Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Soak the gelatine as directed on the package.
In a pot, bring the water to a boil.
Add the soaked gelatine, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon to the boiling water.
Boil for about 20 minutes.
Add the beaten egg whites.
Cook until the eggs are done.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the white wine and mix well.
Strain and set
Strain through a flannel bag twice.
Pour into molds.
Set aside in a cool place to harden.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Egg whites
- When cooked they collect impurities, helping the jelly come out clear after straining.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and adds body to the liquid.
- White wine
- Adds flavour and acidity to the jelly.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright citrus aroma to balance the sweetness.
The step that matters
Adding the beaten egg whites and cooking until the eggs are done. The egg whites must be fully cooked in the boiling liquid so they coagulate and trap impurities. Stirring them in gently and letting them rise and set helps the strained jelly stay clear rather than cloudy.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, lemon, sugar, egg):
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Cinnamonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, lemon, sugar, 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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