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Drink

Brandy, Egg and Milk

A drink made with egg, milk, brandy, sugar and optional nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Brandy, Egg and Milk

makes one tumblerful

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the egg and separate the yolk from the white.

  2. Whip each with a fork until frothy.

  3. Mix the yolk and white together thoroughly.

Make the drink

  1. Add enough milk or cream to make a tumblerful.

  2. Stir in the sugar and brandy or whisky.

  3. Mix well with a fork and serve.

  4. Add grated nutmeg if desired.

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.

  1. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Egg
Adds richness and body, and its proteins give the drink a light, frothy texture.
Milk or cream
Supplies the liquid base and makes the drink smooth and mellow.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the alcohol.
Brandy or whisky
Adds warmth and a distinct spirited flavour.

The step that matters

Whip each with a fork until frothy. Beating the yolk and white separately incorporates air and loosens the proteins, so the egg blends into a lighter, more even texture when combined.

Swap the nutmeg

The recipe marks nutmeg as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, brandy):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, brandy. 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.

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