Name: Essence for Head-ache and Other Violent Pains
Ingredients: 2 pounds true French spirit of wine; 2 ounces roche alum, finely powdered; 4 ounces camphor, cut small; ½ ounce essence of lemon; 4 ounces strong volatile spirit of sal ammoniac

Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Essence for Head-ache and Other Violent Pains

Ingredients

2 pounds true French spirit of wine
2 ounces roche alum, finely powdered
4 ounces camphor, cut small
½ ounce essence of lemon
4 ounces strong volatile spirit of sal ammoniac

Directions

Put the spirit of wine in a strong bottle.
Add the roche alum, camphor, essence of lemon, and spirit of sal ammoniac.
Stop the bottle tightly and shake it three to four times a day for five to six days.
To use, rub a little on your hand and hold it on the affected area until dry.
Repeat two to three times if pain persists.

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.

Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together701 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Spirit + camphortop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together207 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Wine + lemontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,157 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Wine + camphortop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together99 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Spirit + lemontop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together256 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).