Name: Sarsaparilla Mead
Ingredients: three pounds sugar; three ounces tartaric acid; one ounce cream of tartar; one ounce flour; one ounce essence sarsaparilla; three quarts water; two spoonfuls of cream of tartar; one pint of boiling water; a cup of loaf sugar

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Sarsaparilla Mead

Ingredients

Directions

Combine three pounds sugar, three ounces tartaric acid, one ounce cream of tartar, one ounce flour, one ounce essence of sarsaparilla, and three quarts water.
Strain the mixture and bottle it.
Let the bottled mead stand ten days before using.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

555Calories

13 gProtein

7 gFat

108 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Water	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.

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,481 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar: Provides sweetness and the fermentable base for the mead.
Tartaric acid: Adds acidity that gives the drink a sharp, tart edge.
Cream of tartar: Contributes acidity and helps keep the mixture stable.
Essence of sarsaparilla: Supplies the characteristic sarsaparilla flavour and aroma.

“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.