Name: Chilled Currants
Ingredients: 1 quart currants; 1 cup powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 2-3 tablespoons brandy or wine

Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Chilled Currants

Ingredients

1 quart currants
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons brandy or wine

Directions

Prepare

Wash and carefully remove the stems from the currants.
Place the currants in a fancy dish.

Sweeten and chill

Sprinkle the powdered sugar and cinnamon over the currants.
Add the brandy or wine and stir gently.
Let the mixture stand in a cold place for one hour before serving.

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.

Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,199 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Currants: Provide the tart fruit and juice that form the base of the dish.
Powdered sugar: Sweetens the currants and dissolves quickly into their juices.
Cinnamon: Adds warm, aromatic spice that complements the tart fruit.
Brandy or wine: Adds aromatic depth and a boozy note to the fruit.