Name: Oil Op Roses
Ingredients: 1 quart olive oil; 1 teaspoon otto of roses; 1 teaspoon oil of rosemary; Alkanet root (for coloring); 2 ounces spermaceti; 2 ounces oil of almonds; 1 tablespoon honey

Why it works: Olive and rosemary are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,590 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Oil Op Roses

Ingredients

Directions

Mix olive oil, otto of roses, and oil of rosemary together.
Color the mixture with alkanet root steeped in the oil before scenting it.
Melt spermaceti in a small pot.
Add oil of almonds to the melted spermaceti and mix well.
Stir in honey until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a jar.
Apply before bed at night.

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.

Olive + rosemarytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,590 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Olive + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rosemary + almondtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rosemary + honeytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together238 recipes

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