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 Clarify Coarse Brown Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pan, combine 50 pounds of coarse brown sugar with 20 pints of water and 5 egg whites.
While heating, add 5 pounds of small charcoal and boil until the mixture is as black as ink.
If the mixture rises too quickly, add cold water.
Strain the mixture through a bag until it becomes clear, checking clarity by placing some syrup in a glass.
Return the syrup to the heat until it resembles clarified loaf sugar.
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
- Egg whites
- Coagulate when heated and trap impurities, so they can be strained out of the syrup.
- Small charcoal
- Adsorbs colour and impurities from the boiling sugar syrup, helping it run lighter.
- Coarse brown sugar
- Provides the sugar base that is dissolved and clarified into syrup.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture rise without boiling over. Egg white and charcoal foam sharply as the syrup heats. Adding cold water lowers the temperature and collapses the foam, preventing overflow and keeping impurities in the crust to be strained off.
“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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