Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,027 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the infusion
Combine angelica roots, raisins, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, cinnamon, cloves, figs, liquorice root, proof spirits, and water in a large container.
Let the mixture digest for two days.
Distil and finish
Heat gently and draw off the liquid until the faint begin to rise, using a piece of linen at the mouth of the worm.
Dissolve sugar in rosewater and add it to the distilled liquor.
Note: Gold leaf was traditionally added but is now generally disused.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,027 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Coriander + carawaytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together185 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
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Coriander + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,635 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + figtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together613 recipes
Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Angelica roots
- Provides the aromatic, bittersweet flavour that defines the drink.
- Proof spirits
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour from the botanicals and carries it through distillation.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the bitter and spiced notes of the botanicals.
- Raisins
- Contribute sweetness and body to the infused liquor.
- Rosewater
- Adds a floral aroma to the finished drink.
The step that matters
Drawing off the liquid during distillation. Heating too hard can carry harsh or bitter compounds over with the spirit and scorch the mixture. Gentle heat and stopping at the faint stage keeps the heads and tails out of the final liquor.
Flavor stand-ins for the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (angelica, raisin, coriander, caraway, cinnamon, clove, spirit):
- Orangebetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Figthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against angelica, raisin, coriander, caraway, cinnamon, clove, spirit. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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