Name: Lemon Pie
Ingredients: 2 lemons, grated rind and pulp chopped fine; ½ cup sugar; 2 eggs, well beaten; thin pie crust

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 Pie

Ingredients

2 lemons, grated rind and pulp chopped fine
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
thin pie crust

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Grate the rind of the lemons and chop the pulp finely after removing the white skin.
In a bowl, mix the grated rind, chopped pulp, sugar, and beaten eggs until well combined.
Line a pie plate with a thin layer of pie crust.

Assemble and bake

Pour the lemon mixture into the crust, then cover with another thin layer of crust.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.

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 + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 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

Eggs: Bind the filling and help it set into a sliceable custard when baked.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and balances the sharp acidity of the lemon.
Lemons: Provide the main flavour and acidity, with the rind adding aromatic oils.