Name: Claket Punch
Ingredients: 6 quarts claret; 1 grated nutmeg; 4 quarts Appollinaris (sparkling water); 6 lemons; 2 pounds sugar; 1 sprig mint

Why it works: Lemon and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,998 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Claket Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Pound the mint and stir in the sugar.
Add the juice of the lemons and the grated nutmeg.
Mix in the claret and Apollinaris.
Serve chilled.

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.

Lemon + minttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,318 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Nutmeg + minttop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together204 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Nutmeg + sugartop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together23,364 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Claret: Forms the bulk of the punch and provides its wine flavour and colour.
Sugar: Sweetens the punch and balances the acidity of the lemon juice.
Lemons: Add acidity and fresh citrus flavour that brightens the wine.
Apollinaris (in the method): Adds carbonation, making the punch sparkling and lighter in body.
Nutmeg: Adds a warm, aromatic spice note to the punch.