Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Serve a Watermelon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the watermelon
Cut the watermelon in half.
Scoop out the pink flesh in smooth spoonfuls, removing the seeds.
Place the scooped watermelon in a glass dish.
Make the foam and serve
Froth the egg white and sweeten it with a little powdered sugar.
Decorate the watermelon with the frothy egg white.
Chill in the ice until ready to serve.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Watermelon
- Provides the sweet, juicy flesh that makes up the body of the dish.
- Egg white
- Whipped into a foam that adds light, airy texture as a topping.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the egg white foam and helps it hold its shape.
The step that matters
Frothing the egg white. Egg white foams best when it is free of any yolk or grease and whipped until it holds soft peaks. Under-whipped foam will slide off the fruit, while over-whipped foam turns dry and grainy.
“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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