Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Orange Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the outer rinds and the white inner skin from the oranges.
Slice the oranges thinly and remove the seeds.
Sprinkle plenty of white sugar over the oranges.
Pour brandy over the oranges and let the sugar dissolve before serving.
For an alternative, mix in sliced ripe pears or use powdered sugar-candy instead of sugar.
Garnish with preserved citron slices if desired.
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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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,706 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + syruptop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together561 recipes
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy, syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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