Name: Savory Sweet-mint Fritter
Ingredients: marjoram; mint; sage; flour; water; salt; oil for frying

Why it works: Marjoram and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 507 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Savory Sweet-mint Fritter

Ingredients

Directions

Mince marjoram, mint, and sage finely.
Stir the minced herbs into a foaming batter made from flour, water, and a pinch of salt.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
Fry spoonfuls of the batter until brown, then turn them out onto a platter.
Serve hot.

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.

Marjoram + sagetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together507 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Marjoram + minttop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together94 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Mint + sagetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together138 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Marjoram + flourtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,265 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sage + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,115 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).