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Drink

Samaritan Punch

A chilled punch made with egg, cracked ice, nectar syrup, plain milk, and grated nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Samaritan Punch

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a shaker, combine the egg, cracked ice, nectar syrup, and plain milk. Shake well until mixed.

  2. Strain the mixture into a thin glass.

  3. Garnish with grated nutmeg and serve.

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. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Syrup + nutmegtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together523 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Syrup + milktop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,143 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Egg
Adds body and richness, and helps the shaken drink foam and thicken.
Plain milk
Adds creaminess and softens the drink for a smoother, milder texture.
Nectar syrup
Provides sweetness that balances the richness of the egg and milk.

The step that matters

Shake well until mixed. Thorough shaking with the cracked ice fully combines the egg and milk and chills the drink. Under-shaking can leave the egg unblended and the texture uneven.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, syrup, milk):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, syrup, milk. 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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