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 ↓
A Drink for the Sick
Ingredients
Directions
In a quart pitcher, mix 2 teaspoons of arrow-root with a little cold water.
Add 3 tablespoons of white sugar, the juice of 1 lemon, and part of the lemon rind.
Stir quickly while pouring in boiling water until the pitcher is full.
Serve cold.
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
- Arrow-root
- Thickens the drink into a light, smooth body as it hydrates in hot water.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Provides acidity and bright citrus flavour.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic lemon oils for extra fragrance.
The step that matters
Stir quickly while pouring in boiling water. Arrowroot thickens when heated but can form lumps if it is not dispersed first in cold water. Stirring while adding the hot water keeps the starch evenly suspended so it gelatinises smoothly instead of clumping.
“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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