Name: Lemon Water
Ingredients: 2-3 slices of lemon; 1 lump of sugar; 1 tablespoon of capillaire; 1 pint of boiling water

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 Water

Ingredients

2-3 slices of lemon
1 lump of sugar
1 tablespoon of capillaire
1 pint of boiling water

Directions

Place lemon slices, sugar, and capillaire in an earthen teapot or covered jug.
Pour boiling water over the ingredients.
Cover closely and let steep for 2-3 hours.
Serve as a beverage for a feverish patient.

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.

Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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 slices: Provide acidity and bright citrus aroma to the infused water.
Capillaire: Adds a sweet, fragrant flavor from its sugar and orange-flower or herbal notes.

“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.