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Orgeat

A sweet almond-based syrup made with milk, cinnamon, almonds, brandy, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Orgeat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the milk base

  1. Boil the milk with the cinnamon and sweeten to taste.

  2. Let it cool.

Make the syrup

  1. Gradually pour the cooled milk into the blended almonds and water paste.

  2. Boil the mixture together and stir until cool.

Finish

  1. Add the brandy before serving.

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. Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and fat that give the syrup its body and creaminess.
Milk
Forms the creamy liquid base that carries the almond flavour and adds smooth body.
Sugar
Sweetens the syrup and adds thickness as it dissolves in the liquid.
Brandy
Adds alcohol-carried aroma and a warm finish, so it is added after boiling.
Bitter almonds
Contribute a stronger, sharper almond aroma that deepens the flavour.

The step that matters

Gradually pour the cooled milk into the almond paste. Adding the milk slowly lets the ground almonds disperse evenly instead of clumping. This keeps the almond fats and solids suspended, so the syrup stays smooth rather than grainy or separated.

“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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