Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Barley Water
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the pearl barley thoroughly.
In a saucepan, combine the barley, water, and raisins, then boil until the mixture reduces to 1 quart.
Strain the liquid and add sugar, nutmeg, and lemon juice to taste.
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.
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Tea + lemontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together610 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Barley + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together136 recipes
Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).
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Tea + barleytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together49 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pearl barley
- Releases starch and flavour into the water, giving the drink its body and grainy taste.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and a fruity aroma to the cooking liquid.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tea, barley, sugar, nutmeg, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Limefits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tea, barley, sugar, nutmeg, lemon. 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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