Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Lemon-water Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Rub sugar on the rinds of the lemons and use it to make the syrup by recipe No. 1513, omitting the egg whites.
Strain the lemon juice, add it to the other ingredients, stir well, and put the mixture into a freezing pot.
Freeze as directed for Ice Pudding No. 1290, and when the mixture is thoroughly and equally frozen, put it into ice glasses.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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 + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Lemon + curranttop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Currant + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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 juice
- Provides the sharp acidity and bright flavour that define the water ice.
- Lemons
- Their rinds, rubbed with sugar, release aromatic oils that scent the syrup.
The step that matters
Freezing until thoroughly and equally frozen. If the mixture freezes unevenly, some parts turn hard and icy while others stay soft and watery. Freezing it fully and evenly gives a smooth, consistent texture throughout.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, egg):
- Orangefits better
- Limefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, egg. 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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