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Water Bird-Lime

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Lime and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,044 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Water Bird-Lime

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Wash the bird-lime in spring or river water until soft.

  2. Beat it well to remove excess water and dry it.

  3. Place it in an earthen pipkin with the grease to make it fluid.

  4. Add vinegar, oil, and turpentine, stirring well over a good fire.

  5. Let it boil together for a few minutes to complete the process.

  6. Warm the bird-lime before using and spread it over twigs in all directions.

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. Lime + vinegartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,044 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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