Name: Syrup for Bilious Complaints
Ingredients: 1 ounce Virginia snakeroot; 4 ounces life of man root; 1 ounce peppermint herb; 1 ounce white pine bark; 4 quarts water; ½ pint Holland gin; ½ pint molasses

Why it works: Peppermint and pine match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 103 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Syrup for Bilious Complaints

Ingredients

Directions

Combine Virginia snakeroot, life of man root, peppermint herb, and white pine bark in a pot.
Add 4 quarts of water and boil until reduced to 1 pint.
Strain the mixture and add Holland gin and molasses.
Bottle the syrup 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.

Peppermint + pinetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together103 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Pine + gintop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Peppermint + gintop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Gin + molassestop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Peppermint + molassestop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together65 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).