Why it works: Bread and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,084 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Toast Water
Ingredients
Directions
Toast the slice of stale bread until quite brown, but do not scorch.
While the bread is hot, place it in a pitcher.
Pour the boiling water over the bread and cover tightly.
Once cool, pour off the liquid.
For added flavor, include a few slices of orange or lemon in the pitcher.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + orangetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,084 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread
- Toasting gives the bread a browned, nutty flavor that carries into the water.
- Boiling water
- Hot water extracts flavor and color from the toasted bread as it steeps.
The step that matters
Toast the bread until quite brown, without scorching. Browning creates the toasted, nutty flavor that defines the drink. Scorched bread turns bitter and carries that bitterness into the water, so stop when the bread is deep brown but not black.
“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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