Why it works: Milk and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Wine Whey
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the new milk in a saucepan.
Stir in the wine to curdle the milk.
Set aside until the curd settles.
Add boiling water and sugar to the whey.
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.
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + winetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,116 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).
-
Wine + sugartop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- New milk
- Its proteins clump into curds when acid is added, separating the solids from the liquid whey.
- Wine
- Its acidity curdles the milk, separating the curds from the whey.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the finished whey.
The step that matters
Stir in the wine to curdle the milk. Acid causes milk proteins to bond and clump into curds. Adding the wine while the milk is hot and stirring gently helps the curds form in larger pieces, leaving a clearer whey beneath.
“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.
More wine whey recipes
You might also like
Raisin Wine64 recipes
Egg Wine58 recipes
Elderberry Wine51 recipes
Rhubarb Wine51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.