Name: Milk and Lime Water
Ingredients: 4 ounces milk; 4 ounces water; 2 teaspoons sugar of milk; 2 teaspoons lime water

Why it works: Milk and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Milk and Lime Water

Ingredients

4 ounces milk
4 ounces water
2 teaspoons sugar of milk
2 teaspoons lime water

Directions

Combine the milk and water in a container.
Add the sugar of milk and lime water.
Mix well until fully combined.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + limetop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together700 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + limetop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,332 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Milk: Provides the main liquid and milk proteins that give the drink body and a mild, creamy flavor.
Sugar of milk: Adds gentle sweetness and a mild, rounded flavor without making the drink sharp.
Lime water: Adds alkalinity, which can help neutralize acidity and keep the mixture from tasting sour.