Name: Almonds, English Fashion
Ingredients: ½ cup almonds, blanched; ½ cup filberts, blanched; 1 cup sugar; 1 lemon, zested; 1-2 egg whites

Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almonds, English Fashion

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the nuts

Chop half of the almonds and filberts very fine, and slice the rest into two or three pieces.

Make the mixture

Boil the sugar with the lemon zest until prepared.
Remove from heat and stir in the chopped nuts.
Add 1-2 egg whites and mix well.

Shape and bake

Pour the mixture onto parchment paper and spread evenly.
Cut into slices and bake until set.

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.

Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Almond + filberttop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together80 recipes

Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Almonds: Provide a nutty flavor and a firm, chewy texture.
Filberts: Add nutty flavor and richness to the texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the mixture set and brown.
Egg whites: Bind the nuts and sugar together and help the mixture set when baked.
Lemon zest: Adds a bright citrus aroma.