Why it works: Sherry and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,246 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓
Arrow-root Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Combine water, sherry or brandy, nutmeg, and sugar in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
In a separate bowl, mix arrow-root with cold water until smooth.
Gradually add the arrow-root mixture to the boiling liquid, stirring constantly.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and boil for three minutes.
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.
-
Sherry + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,246 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Nutmeg + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Nutmeg and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 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
- Starch that thickens the liquid into a clear, glossy jelly as it boils.
- Sherry or brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour to the jelly.
The step that matters
Gradually add the arrow-root mixture to the boiling liquid, stirring constantly.. Adding the starch slowly while stirring keeps it dispersed evenly. Dumping it in at once can form lumps that stay hard and cannot be smoothed out, leaving the jelly uneven.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, 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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.