Name: Quintessence of Mushrooms
Ingredients: 1 jar of whole black pepper; 1 tablespoon brandy; 12 black peppercorns; 12 allspice berries

Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Quintessence of Mushrooms

Ingredients

1 jar of whole black pepper
1 tablespoon brandy
12 black peppercorns
12 allspice berries

Directions

Fill a jar with whole black pepper and seal it tightly.
Place the jar in a pot of boiling water and keep it boiling for 2 hours.
Remove the jar and let it cool, then pour the juice into a clean saucepan, leaving the sediment behind.
Bring the juice to a boil, skim off any foam, and pour it into a clean, dry jar.
Let it sit overnight, then carefully pour it off through a fine sieve or thick flannel bag.
Bottle the liquid in pint or half-pint jars, adding 12 black peppercorns, 12 allspice berries, and 1 tablespoon of brandy to each jar.
Seal the jars tightly and store them in a cool, dry place.

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.

Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Brandy + allspicetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together931 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + brandytop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together934 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).