Name: Welsh Nectar
Ingredients: 2 gallons of water; 1 pound of raisins; 2 pounds of loaf sugar; juice of 3 lemons; peel of 3 lemons, cut thin

Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Welsh Nectar

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Boil 2 gallons of water and allow it to cool.
Add 1 pound of raisins, 2 pounds of loaf sugar, the juice of 3 lemons, and the thinly cut peel of the lemons.

Ferment and bottle

Stir the mixture daily for 4 days.
Run the mixture through a jelly bag and bottle it.
Ensure the corks are tied down.
After 10 days to 2 weeks, it will be ready for use.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Raisins: Provide sugar and fruit flavour as they soften and release their juices into the liquid.
Loaf sugar: Provides sweetness and feeds the fermentation that gives the drink its character.
Lemons: Add acidity and aroma from the juice and the thinly cut peel.