Why it works: Milk and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
Wine Whey
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the milk in a saucepan.
When it rises to the top, pour in the wine.
Let it boil briefly; if it separates, remove from heat.
Let it stand for a few minutes without stirring.
Strain through Swiss muslin.
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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Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Provides the proteins that curdle into solids when acid is added, forming the curds and leaving the whey.
- Sherry or madeira wine
- Adds acidity that curdles the milk proteins, and flavour to the whey.
The step that matters
Removing from heat if the milk separates. Boiling too long after the wine is added can toughen the curds and make them grainy. Removing the pan as soon as the milk separates keeps the curds soft and the whey clear.
“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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