Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Pope's Posset
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds, then pound them in a mortar with a few drops of water to prevent oiling.
Make the posset
Put the almond mixture into a pint of cold water and bring it slowly to a boil.
Strain the liquid.
Mix the strained liquid with a bottle of boiling hot white wine.
Add sugar to taste.
Serve.
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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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Almond + white winetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together331 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main almond flavour and body of the drink once pounded and steeped in water.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a stronger, sharper almond aroma that balances the sweetness.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and alcohol, giving the drink its tang and warmth.
The step that matters
Pound the almonds with a few drops of water. Almonds are rich in oil; pounding them dry can release that oil and make the liquid greasy. A few drops of water keep the oil emulsified in the paste, so the drink stays smooth.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, sugar):
- Chestnutfits better
- Almondthe original
- Peasfits about as well
- Beansfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, 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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