Skip to main content

Compound Tincture of Rhubarb

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Rhubarb and saffron share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Compound Tincture of Rhubarb

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine rhubarb, liquorice root, ginger, saffron, distilled water, and proof spirit of wine in a container.

  2. Seal the container and let it digest for 14 days.

  3. After 14 days, strain the mixture.

  4. For use, take ½ oz. as an aperient or 1 oz. in cases of violent diarrhea.

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. Rhubarb + saffrontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Rhubarb + gingertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Ginger + saffrontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together418 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together701 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Saffron + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together282 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, saffron, spirit, wine):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits about as well
  3. Peppermintfits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, saffron, spirit, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

You might also like

Rhubarb WineRhubarb Wine51 recipesGinger WineGinger Wine12 recipesWine WheyWine Whey111 recipesRaisin WineRaisin Wine64 recipes