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Drink

Modern Cookery

A milk-based drink flavored with lemon rind, rum, brandy, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Modern Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Combine the new milk and cold milk in a large bowl.

  2. Add the lemon rind, rum, and brandy.

  3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until frothy.

  4. Gradually mix the egg yolks into the milk mixture.

Serve

  1. Serve immediately in warm glasses.

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. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  2. Milk + rumtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

  4. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

New milk
Forms the liquid base and gives the drink its body and creaminess.
Egg yolks
Add richness and thickness, and their fat helps blend the drink smoothly.
Lemon rind
Its oils add a bright citrus aroma and flavor.
Rum
Adds its distinctive flavor and aroma to the drink.
Brandy
Adds warm, fruity depth of flavor and aroma.

The step that matters

Gradually mixing in the egg yolks. Adding the frothy yolks slowly while stirring lets them disperse evenly through the liquid, so they blend smoothly instead of forming lumps or streaks.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplefits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, rum, brandy. 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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