Name: Recipe for Linseed Tea
Ingredients: 1 quart water; 1 ounce whole linseed; Juice of ½ lemon; A few strips of lemon rind; 1 small stick liquorice; 12-24 raisins; Honey or sugar-candy to taste

Why it works: Lemon and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,742 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Recipe for Linseed Tea

Ingredients

Directions

Bring the water to a simmer.
Add the whole linseed, lemon juice, lemon rind, liquorice, and raisins.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Strain the mixture.
Sweeten with honey or sugar-candy to taste.

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.

Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon + honeytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,707 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Raisin + honeytop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together104 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Whole linseed: Releases mucilage into the water, giving the tea its body and slightly thick, soothing texture.
Raisins: Add natural sweetness and a mild fruity flavour to the simmered liquid.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Liquorice: Contributes a distinct sweet, aromatic flavour to the tea.