Why it works: Sherry and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,273 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the egg yolks, whole egg, and sugar in a saucepan.
Beat well for a few minutes.
Place the saucepan in another pan of boiling water over the heat.
While whisking the eggs, gradually pour in the sherry.
Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, then remove from heat.
Stir in the lemon juice.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sherry + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat, giving it a rich, smooth body.
- Whole egg
- Adds structure and body, helping the sauce thicken as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and balances the acidity of the sherry and lemon.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and wine flavour, thinning the base before it thickens.
- Lemon juice
- Adds brightness and acidity that lifts the sweetness of the sauce.
The step that matters
Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, then remove from heat.. Egg proteins set gradually over gentle heat. Overheating or stopping too early can curdle the sauce or leave it thin, so whisk constantly and take it off the heat as soon as it thickens.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, sherry):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pineapplefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, sherry. 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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