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Drink

Almond Drink

A drink made from blanched and bitter almonds, orange‑flower water, rose‑water, pure water, and clear syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Almond Drink

Ingredients

Directions

Pound and strain

  1. Pound the blanched almonds with the bitter almonds and orange-flower water to prevent oiling.

  2. Mix in the rose-water and pure water.

  3. Rub the mixture through a sieve until the almonds are dry.

Sweeten and bottle

  1. Add the clear syrup and boil for a few minutes.

  2. When cold, bottle in closely corked bottles.

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.

  1. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Orange + rosetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together876 recipes

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

  3. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Almond + syruptop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Orange + syruptop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,179 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Blanched almonds
Provide the main body, richness and creamy texture of the drink.
Bitter almonds
Add a stronger, sharper almond aroma and flavour.
Orange-flower water
Adds a floral aroma and helps keep the almond oil from separating.
Rose-water
Adds a delicate floral aroma to the drink.
Clear syrup
Supplies sweetness to balance the almond flavour.

The step that matters

Pounding the almonds with orange-flower water. Almonds release oil when crushed, and the oil can separate and make the drink greasy. Pounding them with orange-flower water, a liquid, helps disperse the oil into a stable mixture, so the finished drink stays smooth.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, rose, syrup):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raspberryfits about as well
  3. Orangethe original
  4. Raisinfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, rose, syrup. 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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