Why it works: Syrup and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,235 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Grape Water Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Boil 1 pint of water and pour it over the elder flowers in a pot. Cover tightly.
After steeping, drain the water from the flowers.
Add 1 cup of syrup and the juice of 3 lemons to the drained water.
Mix well and freeze the mixture.
Once frozen, shape it into a bunch of grapes.
Cover the mold with half a sheet of paper and place it in ice and salt for 1 hour.
Turn it out to serve.
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.
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Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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