Why it works: Brandy and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,311 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓
Arrow-root Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Boil 1 pint of water with 2 tablespoons of brandy, nutmeg, and sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of arrow-root with a little cold water until smooth.
Pour the boiling liquid over the arrow-root mixture, stirring continuously.
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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Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,311 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Nutmeg + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Brandy and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Arrow-root
- Thickens the liquid into a clear, soft jelly as its starch gels when heated.
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the jelly.
The step that matters
Pour the boiling liquid over the arrow-root mixture, stirring continuously.. Arrowroot starch thickens when heated in liquid, but if it is not stirred while the hot liquid goes in, it can clump and form lumps instead of a smooth jelly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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