Why it works: Peach and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 466 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Peach Water
Ingredients
Directions
Combine peach jam, pounded almonds, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a large bowl, then stir until well mixed.
Strain the mixture to remove solids.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
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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Peach + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Peach + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together947 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peach jam
- Supplies the main peach flavour, sweetness, and body of the drink.
- Sweet almonds
- Add a nutty almond flavour and a fine, slightly cloudy body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and cuts the sweetness.
The step that matters
Strain the mixture thoroughly. Pounded almonds and jam leave fine solids suspended in the liquid. Straining removes them so the drink is smooth rather than gritty or cloudy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peach, almond, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peach, almond, sugar. 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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