Name: Macedoine of Fruits
Ingredients: grapes; strawberries; currants; brandy; ice

Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Macedoine of Fruits

Ingredients

Directions

Soak the grapes, strawberries, and currants in brandy.
Combine the soaked fruits in a bowl.
Chill the mixture on ice 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.

Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Grape + brandytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together711 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Grape + curranttop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together346 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).