Name: Cough Drink
Ingredients: 1 ounce Barbadoes tar; 1 ounce balsam of sulphur; 1 ounce oil of aniseeds; 1 yolk of egg; 1 ounce nitre; ½ ounce ginger; 4 ounces oxyniel of squills; 1 pint warm sage or rue tea

Why it works: Ginger and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 157 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Cough Drink

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine Barbadoes tar, balsam of sulphur, and oil of aniseeds.
Incorporate the yolk of one egg into the mixture.
Add nitre and ginger, then mix well.
Stir in the oxyniel of squills until fully combined.
Gradually mix this drink into 1 pint of warm sage or rue tea.
Administer the drink to the horse on an empty stomach in the morning.
Do not feed the horse for two hours after giving the drink.
After two hours, provide a mash of scalded bran and oats with warm water.
Repeat this treatment every other morning for three to four times.
During the treatment, give the horse mashes and warm water twice a day.

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.

Ginger + sagetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together157 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Egg + sagetop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,100 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Egg + gingertop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,337 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).