Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Syrip of Roses
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the infusion
Gather 1 pound of damask rose leaves in high season.
Place the leaves in an earthen vessel and add 1 quart of boiling spring water. Cover the vessel and let it steep for 6 hours.
Strain the liquid through a piece of fine cloth.
Make the syrup
In a pot, combine 1 pint of the strained juice with 1.5 pounds of loaf sugar. Boil over medium heat until it reaches a syrupy consistency, skimming off any foam.
Bottle
Pour the syrup into bottles and seal them with corks.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rose + sugartop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rose + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,840 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Damask rose leaves
- Provide the rose aroma and flavour that the infused liquid carries.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the liquid and thickens it into a syrup as it boils down.
The step that matters
Boiling to a syrupy consistency. Sugar concentration determines whether the syrup keeps and pours properly. Too little boiling leaves it thin and prone to spoiling, while overboiling makes it stiff as it cools. Skimming foam keeps the syrup clear.
“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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