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Philadelphia Fish-house Punch

A citrus punch made with lemon or lime juice, rum, cognac, peach brandy, sugar, water, and ice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Philadelphia Fish-house Punch

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine 1 pint of lemon or lime juice with 3 pints of the mixture.

  2. For the mixture, mix ½ pint of Jamaica rum, ⅓ cup of cognac, ⅓ cup of peach brandy, 4 pounds of loaf sugar, and 5 quarters of water.

  3. Add ice to taste and adjust the amount of water accordingly.

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. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  2. Rum + peachtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together84 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + peachtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together947 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together339 recipes

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

  5. Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 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

Lemon or lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the punch and balances the sugar.
Jamaica rum
Provides the main spirit body and a rich, molasses-like aroma.
Cognac
Adds warm, oaky brandy flavor and depth to the punch.
Peach brandy
Contributes fruity aroma and extra sweetness.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the punch and adds body that softens the alcohol's bite.

The step that matters

Adding the ice and adjusting the water. Ice melts into the punch and dilutes it over time. Adding it to taste and then correcting the water amount keeps the strength and sweetness balanced, so the punch does not turn weak or harsh.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rum, peach, brandy, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Pineapplefits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rum, peach, brandy, 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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