Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Squash
Ingredients
Directions
Squeeze and strain the lemon juice into a glass.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Pour in the soda water and serve immediately while effervescing.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lemon
- Supplies the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness of the drink.
- Sugar
- Dissolves into the juice to add sweetness that offsets the lemon's tartness.
- Soda water
- Adds carbonation, giving the drink its fizz and lightness.
The step that matters
Pour in the soda water and serve immediately. Carbon dioxide escapes from soda water quickly once opened or poured, so the fizz fades if the drink waits. Adding the soda last and serving at once keeps the drink bubbly.
“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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