Name: Cream Op Tartar Drink
Ingredients: ½ ounce cream of tartar; 1 cup loaf sugar; a bit of orange or lemon peel; 1 quart boiling water

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Cream Op Tartar Drink

Ingredients

½ ounce cream of tartar
1 cup loaf sugar
a bit of orange or lemon peel
1 quart boiling water

Directions

In a jug, combine cream of tartar, loaf sugar, and orange or lemon peel.
Pour 1 quart of boiling water over the mixture.
Stir well and allow to cool gradually.

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cream + orangetop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,170 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Cream of tartar: Provides the sharp, tart acidity that gives the drink its flavour.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the drink and balances the tartness of the cream of tartar.
Orange or lemon peel: Adds aromatic citrus oils that scent the drink.