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Orgeat

A syrup made from sweet and bitter almonds, orange‑flower water, spring water, rose water, clarified sugar, and optional brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 ↓

Orgeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds by pouring boiling water over them, then slip off their skins.

  2. Pound the almonds in a mortar, moistening with orange-flower water.

  3. Mix the pounded almonds with spring water and rose water, then strain through a cloth, squeezing the almonds dry.

Make the syrup

  1. Boil the clarified sugar until it cracks when dipped in cold water.

  2. Add the almonds to the syrup and boil for one minute.

  3. Remove from heat and let cool, then bottle and cork air-tight.

Serve

  1. To serve, shake the bottle, add 1 tablespoon of syrup to a tumbler, and fill with spring water.

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. Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

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

  5. Rose + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together560 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and body of the syrup.
Bitter almonds
Add a sharper, more aromatic almond note that balances the sweetness.
Clarified sugar
Sweetens the syrup and gives it body and preservation.
Orange-flower water
Adds a floral, aromatic fragrance to the almonds.
Rose water
Adds a delicate floral aroma that complements the almonds.

The step that matters

Boiling the sugar to the crack stage. Sugar must be boiled until it cracks when dipped in cold water so the syrup reaches the right concentration. Too little cooking leaves it thin and more prone to spoiling, while overcooking makes it hard and sticky once cooled.

“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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