Why it works: Ginger and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,833 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Beryl Cisler
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine one bottle of catawba grape juice, one bottle of ginger ale, and one bottle of Apollinaris in a pitcher or punch bowl.
Arrange a long slim piece of ice, a few sprigs of mint, a slice of cucumber rind, peel of one orange, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and slices of peach or pineapple in the pitcher.
Pour the grape juice and ginger ale into the pitcher at the same time, adding the Apollinaris at the last moment.
Sweeten and serve
Make the sugar syrup by boiling one cup of sugar and one-half cup of water for ten minutes, then let it cool.
If the punch is not sweet enough, add a little sugar syrup.
Serve the punch from the pitcher into small glasses, each with a sprig of mint placed in it.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Peppermint | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Ginger + orangetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,833 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together884 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Mint + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together647 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Grape + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,771 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Mint + orangetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together549 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Catawba grape juice
- Provides the main fruity flavour and colour of the punch.
- Ginger ale
- Adds sweetness and a gentle spicy aroma to the punch.
- Apollinaris
- Adds carbonation, giving the punch its lively fizz and lightness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the punch and balances the acidity of the grape juice.
The step that matters
Adding the Apollinaris last. Carbonation escapes quickly from sparkling water, so adding it at the final moment keeps the punch fizzy when served.
Swap the grape
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cucumber, mint, ginger, orange):
- Limefits better
- Lemonfits better
- Melonfits better
- Grapethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cucumber, mint, ginger, orange. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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