Name: Champagne Cider
Ingredients: good, sound apples; ¼ ounce sulphate of lime per gallon of cider

Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Champagne Cider

Ingredients

good, sound apples
¼ ounce sulphate of lime per gallon of cider

Directions

Let the cider from good, sound apples ferment until palatable.
Draw off into a clean barrel.
Mix ¼ ounce of sulphate of lime in a bucket of cider.
Return the mixture to the barrel and shake well.
Let stand until clear, then it is ready 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.

Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,238 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Apple + limetop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together231 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lime + cidertop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).