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Egg Milk Shake

A chilled drink made with egg, milk, syrup, soda water, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Egg Milk Shake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Break the egg into a 12‑ounce glass in front of the customer.

  2. Add the fresh milk and plain syrup.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a shaker and mix well.

  4. Fill the glass nearly full with iced soda water.

  5. Pour the mixture from the shaker to the glass several times to thoroughly mix.

  6. Serve with a good head of foam and grate a little nutmeg on top.

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. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Syrup + nutmegtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together523 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Milk + syruptop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,143 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Egg and nutmeg 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

Egg
Adds body and a rich, creamy texture to the drink.
Fresh milk
Provides moisture and a smooth, mellow base for the drink.
Plain syrup
Adds sweetness to balance the drink.
Iced soda water
Adds carbonation, lightness and foam when poured.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture from the shaker to the glass several times. Pouring between vessels thoroughly combines the raw egg, milk and syrup, and aerates the liquid so it builds a good head of foam. Insufficient mixing can leave the egg unevenly blended.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, syrup):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, syrup. 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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