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Roman Punch

A chilled cocktail made with lemonade, champagne, rum, orange juice, powdered sugar, and whipped egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Roman Punch

Why it works: Champagne and rum match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Roman Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the meringue

  1. In a bowl, whip the egg whites with the powdered sugar until firm.

Mix the punch

  1. Mix the lemonade, champagne, rum, and orange juice in a large pitcher.

  2. Fold the whipped egg whites into the mixture gently.

Chill and serve

  1. Chill the punch in the refrigerator or serve over ice.

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.

  1. Champagne + rumtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together137 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Rum + orangetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Champagne + orangetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together260 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  4. Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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

Egg whites
Whipped into a foam that gives the punch a light, airy, frothy texture.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the punch and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
Lemonade
Provides sweetness and acidity as the base of the punch.
Champagne
Adds sparkle and a dry, lively character to the punch.
Rum
Contributes depth of flavor and warmth to the punch.
Oranges
Add fresh citrus acidity and aroma through their juice.

The step that matters

Fold the whipped egg whites gently. Whipped egg whites are a foam of trapped air. Stirring or beating vigorously after folding in collapses the bubbles, so the punch loses its light, frothy texture and turns flat.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (champagne, rum, sugar, egg):

  1. Pineapplefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against champagne, rum, sugar, egg. 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.

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