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 ↓
Cream Nectar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a pot, mix tartaric acid, Epsom salts, white sugar, and water.
Heat until nearly boiling.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Once cool, add the egg whites and lemon essence.
Bottle the mixture.
Serve
To serve, pour 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a tumbler filled with water.
Add a small amount of baking soda and stir briskly.
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Tartaric acid
- Provides sourness and, with baking soda, releases carbon dioxide for fizz.
- White sugar
- Provides sweetness and body to the syrup.
- Egg whites
- Add body and a light, frothy texture to the mixture.
- Baking soda (in the method)
- Reacts with the tartaric acid to release carbon dioxide, making the drink fizz.
The step that matters
Stirring briskly after adding baking soda. Baking soda reacts with the tartaric acid to release carbon dioxide almost immediately. Stirring briskly right after adding it spreads the reaction through the drink, so the fizz forms evenly instead of settling in one spot.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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