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Cordial Poppy Wafer

A cordial made from poppies steeped in brandy, mixed with raisins, spices, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Coriander and fennel match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 426 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Cordial Poppy Wafer

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse

  1. Combine the poppies and brandy in a wide-mouthed glass and let them stand for 48 hours.

  2. Strain the mixture.

Flavour and rest

  1. Stone the sun raisins and bruise the coriander, fennel, and liquorice together.

  2. Add the bruised mixture and powdered sugar to the brandy.

  3. Let it stand for 4 to 8 weeks, shaking daily.

  4. Strain again and bottle for use.

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. Coriander + fenneltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together426 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Brandy + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 recipes

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

  3. Raisin + fenneltop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  5. Raisin + coriandertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together136 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Poppies
Provide the main flavour and colour of the cordial as they steep in the brandy.
Brandy
Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour from the poppies and spices and preserves the cordial.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and rounds out the harsh alcohol bite as the cordial rests.
Sun raisins
Contribute sweetness and body as they steep in the spirit.

The step that matters

Strain the mixture. Straining after the first 48 hours removes the bulk of the poppy solids so they do not turn the cordial bitter or cloudy during the long rest. Straining again before bottling clears the remaining sediment.

Swap the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, raisin, fennel, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Corianderthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, raisin, fennel, sugar. 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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