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Drink

Egg-nogg

A creamy holiday drink made with egg yolks, sugar, nutmeg, brandy or rum, Madeira wine, egg whites, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Egg-nogg

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar until creamy.

  2. Add the grated nutmeg and mix well.

  3. Stir in the brandy or rum and Madeira wine.

  4. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them into the mixture.

  5. Finally, stir in the whole milk until combined.

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. Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Brandy + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Brandy + madeira winetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together120 recipes

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Egg yolks
Add richness and body, thickening the drink with their fat and emulsifiers.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the base and helps the yolks whip into a creamy texture.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they add a light, airy foam to the mixture.
Whole milk
Provides the liquid base and makes the drink smooth and mellow.
Brandy or jamaica rum
Adds alcohol flavor and aroma, and helps keep the drink from spoiling quickly.
Madeira wine
Adds sweetness and a nutty, fortified-wine flavor.

The step that matters

Fold the egg whites gently. Stiff whites hold air only if they are not deflated. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps the foam light so the eggnog stays frothy and airy.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, brandy, madeira wine, milk):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, brandy, madeira wine, milk. 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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