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Capsicum, Essence of

A spirit infused with cayenne pepper, steeped for three weeks, then strained and bottled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and pepper work together. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 934 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Capsicum, Essence of

Ingredients

Directions

Make the infusion

  1. Add cayenne pepper to brandy or spirits.

  2. Let it infuse for three weeks.

Bottle

  1. Pour off the clear liquid and bottle for use.

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.

  1. Brandy + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together934 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cayenne pepper
Supplies the heat and pepper flavour that the spirit draws out during infusion.
Brandy
Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour and heat from the cayenne pepper.

The step that matters

Let it infuse for three weeks. Infusion time determines how much flavour and heat the spirit extracts from the pepper. Stopping early leaves a weak, underdeveloped liquor, while the solids must stay in contact with the spirit throughout so that extraction is even.

“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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