Name: Lozenges of Marshmallows, for Coughs
Ingredients: Fresh marshmallow roots; Pure water; 1½ pounds loaf sugar; 6-7 ounces rose water; ¼ pound marshmallow pulp; Oil of sweet almonds

Why it works: Rose and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Lozenges of Marshmallows, for Coughs

Ingredients

Directions

Clean and scrape the marshmallow roots.
Boil the roots in pure water until soft.
Remove the roots and beat them into a smooth paste.
Place the paste in an inverted sieve to extract the pulp.
Boil the sugar in rose water until it reaches a solid consistency.
Whisk in the marshmallow pulp off the heat.
Return to gentle heat, stirring constantly to dry out moisture.
Once a good paste forms, spread it on oiled paper.
Roll out with a rolling pin and cut into lozenges.

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.

Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,584 recipes

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