Why it works: White wine and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Yellow Flummery
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the isinglass
Beat and open the isinglass, then place it in a bowl.
Pour boiling water over the isinglass and cover until almost cold.
Make the flummery
Add white wine, lemon juice, lemon rind, and well-beaten egg yolks.
Sweeten to taste and pour into a boiling pan.
Keep it on the heat until it boils, then drain through a fine sieve.
Set and serve
When almost cold, pour into cups and molds.
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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White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Isinglass
- Provides the gelatin-like structure that makes the mixture set into a firm jelly.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the mixture as it heats.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- White wine
- Adds liquid and a mild acidic flavor to the jelly.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic lemon oils that scent the jelly.
The step that matters
Keep it on the heat until it boils. Egg yolks can curdle or turn grainy if overheated, so the mixture should be heated steadily and watched closely. Straining afterward removes any small set bits and gives a smooth jelly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Applefits less well
- Plumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, egg, 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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