Name: Lemon Brandy.
Ingredients: Peels of lemons; Brandy; Kernels of peach stones; Kernels of plum stones

Why it works: Peach and plum match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Lemon Brandy.

Ingredients

Peels of lemons
Brandy
Kernels of peach stones
Kernels of plum stones

Directions

Cut the thin yellow peels of lemons into small pieces.
Place the lemon peels in a glass jar or bottle.
Add brandy to the jar until the peels are covered.
Pound the kernels of peach and plum stones slightly and add them to the brandy.
Seal the jar and let it sit for three to four weeks.

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.

Peach + plumtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together163 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Brandy + plumtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together168 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Lemon + peachtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together947 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Brandy + peachtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together339 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + plumtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together623 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).