Name: Welsh Nectar
Ingredients: 3 lemons, peel only; 2 pounds loaf sugar; 1 pound raisins, stoned and chopped; 2 gallons water

Why it works: Sugar and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Welsh Nectar

Ingredients

3 lemons, peel only
2 pounds loaf sugar
1 pound raisins, stoned and chopped
2 gallons water

Directions

Prepare

Cut the peel of the lemons very thin and place the rind in a jar.
Add the strained juice of the lemons, sugar, and chopped raisins.
Pour in the boiled and cooled water.

Ferment and bottle

Stir the mixture daily for five days.
Strain through a jelly bag, then bottle and cork tightly.
Let it sit for 10 days to 2 weeks before using.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Lemon and sugar 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

Lemons: Provide peel and juice for aroma and a sharp, acidic flavour.
Loaf sugar: Provides sweetness and feeds the fermentation process.
Raisins: Add fruit sweetness and natural yeasts that help start fermentation.