Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee
Pour boiling water over ground coffee and let it boil for a few minutes.
Pour out a cupful and return it to the pot; repeat several times.
Dissolve isinglass in a little boiling water and add it to the coffee.
Boil the coffee for an additional 10 minutes.
Let the coffee stand for a few minutes until clear.
Serve
Serve with cream and Lisbon sugar.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 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
- Isinglass
- Acts as a fining agent that gathers suspended grounds so the coffee settles clear.
- Ground coffee
- Provides the main coffee flavour and aroma extracted into the hot water.
The step that matters
Letting the coffee stand until clear. Isinglass needs time undisturbed to bind fine grounds and let them settle. Pouring or stirring too soon keeps the coffee cloudy.
“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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