Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 ↓
Balm Wine
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar in warm water and skim it clean.
Add the balm and boil for 10 minutes.
Strain the mixture and cool it.
Ferment and age
Add yeast and let it stand for 2 days.
Add the lemon rind and juice.
Let it stand in the barrel for 6 months.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and the sugars that the yeast ferments into alcohol.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, turning the liquid into wine.
- Balm
- Adds its herbal aroma and flavour to the wine.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity, which brightens flavour and helps keep the wine stable.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic oils that give citrus fragrance to the wine.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture before adding the yeast. Yeast is killed by hot liquid, so the strained mixture must cool fully before yeast goes in. Adding it too early can stop fermentation before it starts.
“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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