Name: Christmas Tourte a LA Chatelaine
Ingredients: pastry for the case; sufficient mince-meat; fresh brandy; lighted writing-paper; Devonshire cream

Why it works: Brandy and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,635 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓

Christmas Tourte a LA Chatelaine

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the pastry case for the tourte.
Fill the case with mince-meat.
Cover securely with pastry or thick paper.
Bake gently at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes or longer until the currants and raisins are tender.
Remove the inside of the tourte and fill it with hot mince-meat.
Pour a little fresh brandy over the mince-meat.
Ignite a strip of writing-paper and touch it to the tourte before serving.
Serve the tourte in a blaze or very hot with Devonshire cream.

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.

Brandy + creamtop 16% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together2,635 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Meat + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together2,248 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Meat + brandytop 26% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together328 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).