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Oxford Punch

A traditional British punch made with citrus, calf's feet jelly, wine, brandy, rum, and orange shrub.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Oxford Punch

Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Oxford Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Rub the rinds of 3 lemons with sugar in lumps to extract essence.

  2. In a large jug, combine the lemon essence, thin peels of 2 Seville oranges and 2 lemons, juice of 4 Seville oranges, juice of 10 lemons, and 6 glasses of liquid calf's feet jelly. Stir well.

  3. Pour in 2 quarts of boiling water.

  4. Cover the jug.

  5. Set the jug near the fire for 15 minutes.

  6. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch bowl or jug.

Sweeten and finish

  1. Sweeten with 1 bottle of capillaire.

  2. Add ½ pint of white wine.

  3. Add 1 pint of French brandy.

  4. Add 1 pint of Jamaica rum.

  5. Add 1 bottle of orange shrub while stirring.

  6. If not sweet enough, add sugar or more capillaire to taste.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  3. White wine + rumtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together113 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. White wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together620 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lemons
Provide acidity and the aromatic oils from the rinds and juice that flavour the punch.
Calf's feet jelly
Adds body and a rich, silky texture to the punch.
Capillaire
Sweetens the punch with a flavoured sugar syrup.
French brandy
Adds spirit strength and warm, fruity depth.
Jamaica rum
Adds spirit strength and a rich, molasses-like aroma.
Orange shrub
Adds sweetness and citrus acidity along with a fruity aroma.

The step that matters

Straining after the infusion. Straining through a fine sieve removes the peel and pulp so the punch stays clear and does not turn bitter from over-steeped peel. Sweetening should be tasted at the end, since sugar and syrup change how the punch reads once the spirits are added.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange, syrup, white wine, brandy, rum):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange, syrup, white wine, brandy, rum. 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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