Name: Noyeau Cordial
Ingredients: 1 gallon proof spirit; 3 pounds loaf sugar; 1 tablespoon extract of almonds; ½ pint apricot or peach juice

Why it works: Almond and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Noyeau Cordial

Ingredients

1 gallon proof spirit
3 pounds loaf sugar
1 tablespoon extract of almonds
½ pint apricot or peach juice

Directions

Combine 1 gallon of proof spirit, 3 pounds of loaf sugar, and 1 tablespoon of almond extract in a large container, then mix well and cover tightly.
Let it stand for 48 hours.
Strain the mixture through thick flannel into bottles.
Add ½ pint of apricot or peach juice before bottling for improved flavor.

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 + apricottop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Spirit + apricottop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together38 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Spirit + almondtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together143 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Proof spirit: Provides the alcoholic base that carries and preserves the flavors.
Loaf sugar: Adds sweetness and body to the finished cordial.
Extract of almonds: Supplies the main almond aroma and flavor.
Apricot or peach juice: Adds fruity flavor and a touch of acidity to the cordial.

“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.