Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Lemon Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan.
Cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
Clear the mixture with a little hot vinegar, removing any scum that rises.
Test the mixture by lifting it with a spoon; it should form threads that snap like glass.
Pour the mixture into a tin pan.
When nearly cool, mark it into narrow strips with a knife.
If desired, stir in chopped nuts before pouring into the pan.
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 + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vinegar + cocoatop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + cocoatop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together956 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cocoa
The recipe marks cocoa as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar):
- Sesamefits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Soybeanfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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