Name: Ginger Wine
Ingredients: 19 gallons cold soft water; 50 lbs Malaga raisins; 4 oz white tartar, in powder; 20 oz ginger, in powder or bruised; 18 lemons, peel and juice; 2 quarts brandy

Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ginger Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Combine 19 gallons of cold soft water and 50 lbs of Malaga raisins in a large container.
Add 4 oz of white tartar and 20 oz of ginger (powdered or bruised).
Incorporate the peel and juice of 18 lemons.
Pour in 2 quarts of brandy. Mix well and let it ferment for a period before bottling.

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.

Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,242 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,768 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ginger + brandytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together905 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Malaga raisins: Provide sugar and fermentable material that feeds the yeast and gives body to the wine.
White tartar: Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps stabilise the wine.
Ginger: Supplies the characteristic spicy, aromatic flavour of the wine.
Lemons: Add acidity and citrus aroma that balance the sweetness of the raisins.
Brandy: Raises the alcohol content, adding strength and preserving the wine.