Name: Milk Punch
Ingredients: 1 glass of milk; 1 tablespoon sherry, rum, or brandy; Sweetener to taste; Nutmeg for garnish

Why it works: Milk and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

Milk Punch

Ingredients

1 glass of milk
1 tablespoon sherry, rum, or brandy
Sweetener to taste
Nutmeg for garnish

Directions

In a glass, combine the milk and sherry, rum, or brandy. Sweeten to taste and mix well.
Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top before serving.

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.

Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,479 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,685 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sherry + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,246 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Milk: Provides the creamy base and body that the drink is built on.
Sherry, rum, or brandy: Adds alcohol flavour and aroma that contrasts with the sweetness of the milk.