Name: Cherry Cordial
Ingredients: 1 handful wild cherry tree bark; 1 handful poplar bark (from root); 1 quart rain water; 2 pounds loaf sugar; 4 ounces peach kernels, finely powdered; ½ quart good brandy

Why it works: Cherry and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 177 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Cherry Cordial

Ingredients

1 handful wild cherry tree bark
1 handful poplar bark (from root)
1 quart rain water
2 pounds loaf sugar
4 ounces peach kernels, finely powdered
½ quart good brandy

Directions

Simmer wild cherry tree bark and poplar bark in 1 quart of rain water for 1 to 2 hours.
Strain the mixture and add 2 pounds of loaf sugar and 4 ounces of finely powdered peach kernels.
Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Add ½ quart of good brandy and mix well.

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.

Cherry + peachtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together177 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together339 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cherry + brandytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together300 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + peachtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Wild cherry tree bark: Provides the characteristic cherry-like flavour that gives the cordial its base aroma.
Poplar bark: Adds bitter, aromatic flavour notes to the simmered infusion.
Loaf sugar: Adds sweetness and body, balancing the bitter bark infusion.
Brandy: Acts as a preservative and carries the aromatic flavours through the finished cordial.