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 ↓
Cream Soda Without a Fountain
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Mix coffee, water, nutmegs, egg whites, gum arabic, and oil of lemon in a pot.
Place over gentle heat and stir for 30 minutes.
Strain the mixture and divide it into two parts.
Make the two halves
Add 8 ounces of super-carbonate of soda to one half.
Add 6 ounces of tartaric acid to the other half.
Shake both mixtures well and let them cool.
Serve
To serve, pour 4 tablespoons from each mixture into separate glasses filled one-third with cold water.
Stir each glass and then pour them together for a refreshing drink.
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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Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Coffee + nutmegtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together572 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Coffee + lemontop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together578 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped proteins that help stabilise foam and give the drink body.
- Gum arabic
- Acts as an emulsifier and stabiliser, helping the flavour and foam stay suspended.
- Super-carbonate of soda
- Reacts with tartaric acid to release carbon dioxide, making the drink fizz.
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with the soda to release carbon dioxide and gives a tart, sharp taste.
- Coffee
- Provides the main body of flavour and a bitter, roasted character.
The step that matters
Combining the two halves at serving. The soda and tartaric acid only fizz when they meet in liquid. Each half must be shaken and cooled first, then the two portions mixed quickly in cold water so the carbon dioxide is not lost before drinking.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coffee, nutmeg, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against coffee, nutmeg, egg. 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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