Why it works: Lemon and saffron match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 538 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Lemon Wine, Quickly Made
about 3 pintsIngredients
Directions
Boil the water with the sugar until dissolved.
Add the citric acid and let the liquid cool.
Stir in the lemon essence and spirits of wine with a silver spoon.
Color the mixture with a little saffron.
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 + saffrontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together538 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together701 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Wine + saffrontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together282 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Spirit + saffrontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together69 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loaf sugar
- Dissolves in boiling water to provide sweetness and body to the drink.
- Citric acid
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the sugar and gives the drink its tart lemon character.
- Lemon essence
- Supplies the concentrated lemon aroma and flavour that defines the drink.
Swap the saffron
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, spirit, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Rosemaryfits about as well
- Gingerfits about as well
- Saffronthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, spirit, wine. 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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