Name: Mock-turtle Soup No. I
Ingredients: crackei-dust; butter; lemon; sherry

Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Mock-turtle Soup No. I

Ingredients

crackei-dust
butter
lemon
sherry

Directions

Fry the crackei-dust in butter until brown, then set aside until needed.
The next day, skim the fat from the top of the soup and bring it to a boil.
Place the crackei-dust balls into a tureen and pour the boiling soup gently over them.
Serve with lemon cut into small sections and sherry for guests to add 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.

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.

Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,505 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Lemon + sherrytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,273 recipes

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