Name: Almond Paste
Ingredients: 4 ounces blanched bitter almonds; 1 egg white; rose water; rectified spirits

Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Paste

Ingredients

4 ounces blanched bitter almonds
1 egg white
rose water
rectified spirits

Directions

Blend the blanched bitter almonds until finely ground.
In a bowl, combine the ground almonds with the egg white.
Add equal parts of rose water and rectified spirits until a paste forms.
Mix thoroughly until smooth and well combined.

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.

Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rose + spirittop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together140 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Almond + spirittop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together143 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg + rosetop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,840 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).