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Cough Syrup

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Anise and flaxseed share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Cough Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine senna, anise seed, flaxseed, licorice, and water in a pot.

  2. Simmer until the mixture reduces to 1½ cups (3 gills).

  3. Strain the mixture and add molasses and rum.

  4. Heat the mixture together, covered, for a few moments.

  5. Bottle the syrup and use ⅓ cup at a time.

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. Anise + flaxseedtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Flaxseed + licoricetop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together23 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  3. Anise + rumtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Anise + molassestop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together34 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Molasses + rumtop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together56 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

Swap the licorice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (anise, flaxseed, molasses, rum):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Licoricethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against anise, flaxseed, molasses, rum. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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