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Claret-cup

A chilled claret-based summer drink with lemon peel, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Claret-cup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Peel the lemon very thinly and place the peel in a bowl or jug with the cloves, nutmeg, and sugar.

  2. Pour the water over the mixture and stir until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Add the claret and mix well.

  4. Just before serving, add the brandy and garnish with a sprig of borage.

  5. Chill the jug in ice for a summer drink, or add a small ice cube to the cup.

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. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Lemon + boragetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together102 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Nutmeg + boragetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together76 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Claret
Forms the wine base that gives the cup its body, colour and main flavour.
Brandy
Adds strength and warm aroma, added late so its scent stays fresh.
Powdered sugar
Dissolves into the liquid to sweeten and balance the wine's acidity.
Lemon rind
Releases fragrant oils into the mixture, adding bright citrus aroma.

The step that matters

Just before serving, add the brandy. Alcohol and aromatic compounds evaporate and fade over time, so adding brandy shortly before serving keeps its aroma and punch fresh.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, clove, nutmeg, brandy, borage):

  1. Lemonthe original
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Orangefits less well
  4. Raisinfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, nutmeg, brandy, borage. 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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