Name: Blamange Rubane, Or, Striped Blamange
Ingredients: 1 quart blamange (or 2 quarts for more moulds); prepared spinach juice (for green color); liquid cochineal or carmine (for red color); strong infusion of saffron (optional); 3 or 4 fresh egg yolks; 1 to 2 tablespoons milk; chocolate (boiled smooth in water); firm, clear isinglass or calf's-foot jelly (optional)

Why it works: Spinach and saffron match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 149 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Blamange Rubane, Or, Striped Blamange

Ingredients

1 quart blamange (or 2 quarts for more moulds)
prepared spinach juice (for green color)
liquid cochineal or carmine (for red color)
strong infusion of saffron (optional)
3 or 4 fresh egg yolks
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
chocolate (boiled smooth in water)
firm, clear isinglass or calf's-foot jelly (optional)

Directions

Prepare blamange in the usual way, making it a little firmer.
Divide the blamange into three or four equal portions.
To one portion, add enough prepared spinach juice to achieve the desired green color.
To another portion, mix in liquid cochineal or carmine for red color.
For a third portion, add a few drops of strong saffron infusion or mix boiling blamange with beaten egg yolks.
Thicken the egg mixture over gentle heat with 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk.
Ensure all portions are of similar consistency to prevent separation when unmoulding.
For additional color, incorporate boiled chocolate into one portion.

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.

Spinach + saffrontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together149 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Saffron + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together319 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Spinach + eggtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,323 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Swap the saffron

The recipe marks saffron as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spinach, egg, milk, chocolate):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Saffronthe original
Peppermintfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against spinach, egg, milk, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Chocolate Cream171 recipes

Chocolate Cookies76 recipes

Chocolate Fudge55 recipes

Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipes

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Blamange Rubane, Or, Striped Blamange