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Syrup for a Cough

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Syrup for a Cough

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the balsam of tolu gently in water for 2 hours.

  2. Add the white sugar candy and boil for another 30 minutes.

  3. Strain the mixture through a flannel bag twice.

  4. When cold, bottle the syrup.

  5. Take a spoonful when the cough is troublesome.

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.

  1. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Raspberry + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together303 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Syrup + raspberrytop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together377 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + raspberrytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,101 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

Swap the raspberry

The recipe marks raspberry as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup, vinegar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Raspberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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