Why it works: Sherry and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
Sack Posset
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Warm the sugar, sherry, and nutmeg in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves.
Beat the eggs and strain them into the cooled milk.
Make the posset
Add the sherry and sugar mixture to the milk and eggs.
Place the saucepan on the heat and stir continuously until nearly boiling.
Remove from heat to prevent curdling.
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.
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Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sherry + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,246 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Nutmeg and egg 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
- Eggs
- Their proteins set gently as the mixture heats, thickening the posset.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken into a creamy custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the posset and balances the sherry.
- Sherry
- Adds flavour and aroma to the warm liquid.
The step that matters
Stir continuously and take it off the heat before boiling. Egg proteins begin to set as the mixture heats. If it gets too hot or sits too long, they tighten and curdle, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth, thick posset.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, sherry, egg, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, sherry, egg, 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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