Why it works: Corn and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Boil 1 pint of water and 1 cup of sugar in a small saucepan until thickened.
Add the grated rind and juice of the lemon, boil a little longer, then remove from heat.
Dissolve the corn starch or flour in a little water, then pour into the boiling mixture and cook for a few minutes.
Remove from heat and add the beaten egg yolks and half of the lemon syrup, adjusting to taste.
Keep in a bowl set in a pan of hot water and serve warm.
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.
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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the sauce, adding richness and a smooth, creamy body.
- Corn starch or flour
- Thickens the sugar syrup into a sauce as it cooks.
- Lemon
- Provides the sharp, aromatic flavor of the sauce from rind and juice.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps build its syrupy body.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet very hot liquid directly. Removing the pan from heat before adding them, and adding them gently, helps keep the sauce smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, corn, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, corn, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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