Why it works: Sugar and caraway are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Arrow-root Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Mix arrow-root with enough cold water to form a paste.
Add boiling water and stir briskly.
Boil for a few minutes until it becomes a smooth, clear jelly.
Flavour and serve
For debilitated patients, add a little sugar and sherry wine.
For infants, add a drop or two of essence of caraway-seed or cinnamon.
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.
-
Sugar + carawaytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,409 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Wine + carawaytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together126 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sherry + carawaytop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 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
- Arrow-root
- Thickens the boiling water into a smooth, clear jelly as its starch gelatinises.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling water to the paste. Arrow-root must be mixed smooth in cold water first so the starch disperses evenly. Stirring briskly while adding boiling water prevents lumps, and a few minutes of boiling lets the starch swell fully and turn clear.
Swap the caraway
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, sherry, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Clovefits better
- Carawaythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, sherry, wine. 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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.