Name: Ginger Syrup or Gingerette
Ingredients: 3½ lbs loaf sugar; 1 quart water; a pinch of cream of tartar; 2 oz soluble essence of ginger; ½ oz tartaric acid

Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓

Ginger Syrup or Gingerette

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the sugar with a pinch of cream of tartar in 1 quart of water for 1 minute.
Add the soluble essence of ginger and tartaric acid to the mixture.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together14,054 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Cream + gingertop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,137 recipes

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

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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

Loaf sugar: Provides the sweetness and body of the syrup.
Cream of tartar: An acid that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing, so the syrup stays smooth.
Soluble essence of ginger: Supplies the main ginger flavor and aroma.
Tartaric acid: Adds a sharp, tart edge that balances the sweetness.