Name: Blanc-mange
Ingredients: 1 pint of whole milk; 1½ oz. of isinglass; the rind of ½ lemon; 1 lb. of granulated sugar; 10 bitter almonds; ½ oz. of sweet almonds; 1 pint of heavy cream

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,450 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Blanc-mange

Ingredients

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the milk, isinglass, lemon rind, and sugar.
Let the mixture sit by the fire until the milk is well flavored.
Blanch and pound the almonds into a paste, then add to the milk mixture.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,130 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,800 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, almond, cream):

Vanillabetter flavor fit
Figbetter flavor fit
Coconutbetter flavor fit
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, almond, cream. 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).