Why it works: Sugar and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Canadian Punch
up to twenty-four peopleIngredients
Directions
Make the base
In a large bowl, combine the water and sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Add the Maraschino cherries to the mixture.
Serve
Just before serving, stir in the soda and ginger ale.
Serve chilled and enjoy with up to twenty-four people.
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 + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Sugar
- Dissolves into the water to make a sweet syrup that forms the punch's base.
- Maraschino cherries
- Add sweet, fruity flavor and aroma to the punch.
- Soda
- Adds carbonation, giving the punch its fizz and a light texture.
- Ginger ale
- Adds carbonation and mild ginger flavor, lightening the sweet base.
The step that matters
Add the soda and ginger ale just before serving. Carbonation escapes from liquids over time, so adding the fizzy drinks at the last moment keeps the punch lively instead of flat.
“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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