Name: Soup-herb Spirit
Ingredients: ½ ounce Lemon Thyme; ½ ounce Winter Savoury; ½ ounce Sweet Marjoram; ½ ounce Sweet Basil; 2 teaspoons grated Lemon Peel; 2 teaspoons Eschalots; 1 teaspoon Celery Seed; 1 pint Brandy or Proof Spirit

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Soup-herb Spirit

Ingredients

Directions

Combine Lemon Thyme, Winter Savoury, Sweet Marjoram, Sweet Basil, grated Lemon Peel, Eschalots, and Celery Seed in a bowl.
Pour 1 pint of Brandy or Proof Spirit over the mixture.
Seal the container and let it steep for 10 days.
Strain the mixture before using.

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.

Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,225 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Marjoram + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together688 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,768 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Lemon + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together957 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,973 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Brandy or proof spirit: Acts as the solvent that extracts flavor compounds from the herbs and spices.
Sweet basil: Contributes aromatic oils that infuse into the spirit during steeping.
Lemon thyme: Contributes aromatic oils that infuse into the spirit during steeping.
Grated lemon peel: Adds citrus aroma from its volatile oils that dissolve into the spirit.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, thyme, marjoram, basil, brandy):

Rosemaryfits better
Winter savoryfits better
Sagefits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, thyme, marjoram, basil, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.