Name: Sherry Cobler
Ingredients: 1 tumbler of shaved ice; 2 teaspoons of pounded loaf sugar; 3 slices of ripe orange; 2 glasses of sherry

Why it works: Orange and sherry work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 823 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Sherry Cobler

Ingredients

1 tumbler of shaved ice
2 teaspoons of pounded loaf sugar
3 slices of ripe orange
2 glasses of sherry

Directions

Sprinkle the sugar over the orange slices in a tumbler.
Add the shaved ice on top of the sugar and orange.
Pour the sherry over the ice.
Drink as the ice melts, using a straw if preferred.

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.

Orange + sherrytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together823 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,141 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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

Sherry: Provides the main wine flavour and body, and dilutes gradually as the ice melts.
Shaved ice: Chills the drink and slowly dilutes it as it melts.
Sugar: Sweetens the drink and balances the sherry and orange.
Orange: Adds bright acidity and citrus aroma.