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Philadelphia Fish-house Punch

A citrus punch made with rum, cognac, peach brandy, sugar, water, and ice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 ↓

Philadelphia Fish-house Punch

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the lemon or lime juice with the mixture.

  2. To make the mixture, combine Jamaica rum, cognac, peach brandy, loaf sugar, and water.

  3. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

  4. Add ice to the punch and adjust the amount of water as needed.

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. Rum + peachtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together84 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + peachtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together947 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together339 recipes

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

  5. Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 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

Lemon or lime juice
Provides acidity that brightens the punch and balances the sweetness of the sugar.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness that softens the sharpness of the citrus juice.
Jamaica rum
Adds rich, molasses-like flavour and warmth from its alcohol.
Cognac
Adds aromatic depth and warmth to the blend.
Peach brandy
Adds fruity aroma and a soft peach flavour that complements the citrus.

The step that matters

Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Loaf sugar that stays undissolved settles to the bottom, so sweetness becomes uneven and the punch can feel gritty. Dissolving it fully in the spirits and water gives a smooth, evenly sweetened punch.

Swap the lemon

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against rum, peach, brandy, sugar. 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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