Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Berry Punch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Dissolve the sugar in water and boil for a moment, then set aside to cool.
Assemble and serve
Once cool, add the berry juice, lemon juice, ice water, shaved ice, maraschino, and berries.
Stir well and serve chilled.
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolved into the syrup, it sweetens the punch.
- Berry juice
- Provides the main berry flavor and color.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and fruit flavor.
- Shaved ice
- Chills the punch quickly while diluting it slightly.
- Maraschino liqueur
- Adds a subtle cherry-almond aroma and extra flavor depth.
The step that matters
Cool the syrup before adding the juices. Adding the fruit juice and shaved ice to hot syrup would dilute and warm the mixture unevenly and can dull the fresh berry flavor. Letting the syrup cool first keeps the punch bright and lets the ice chill it evenly.
“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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