Name: A Cooling Drink
Ingredients: one ounce of loaf sugar; an ounce of cream of tartar; a quart of boiling water; lemon peel

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 ↓

A Cooling Drink

Ingredients

one ounce of loaf sugar
an ounce of cream of tartar
a quart of boiling water
lemon peel

Directions

Add half an ounce of cream of tartar, one ounce of loaf sugar, and a bit of orange or lemon peel.
Put these into a jug and pour a quart of boiling water over them.
Stir all together.
Allow the beverage to become cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

112Calories

1 gProtein

6 gFat

17 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
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
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 Charles Elme Francatelli. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,640 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cream of tartar: Adds the tart, acidic flavour that gives the drink its refreshing bite.
Loaf sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the cream of tartar.
Lemon peel: Adds a citrus aroma and a little bitter oil flavour to the drink.