Why it works: Orange and syrup are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,179 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Orange Peels
Ingredients
Directions
Select the finest Seville orange peels, free from spots.
Place them in a preserving pan and boil for 2 to 3 hours until tender.
Transfer the peels to cold water and scrape off all the pith from the inside.
Layer the peels in a pan, placing one inside another, until nearly full.
Pour enough syrup over the peels to cover them and let them stand for 2 days.
Draw the syrup from the peels, boil it, and pour it back over them.
Repeat this process 5 or 6 times, adding more syrup as needed.
Once finished, store the peels in stone jars, covered with a bladder and leather.
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.
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Orange + syruptop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,179 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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