Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Combine white wine, water, lemon slices, cinnamon, and sugar in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Wet the cornstarch or potato flour with a little water.
Add the wet cornstarch to the boiling mixture. Stir the mixture constantly.
Add the eggs
Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl.
Gradually add the boiling wine mixture to the yolks while stirring continuously. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir immediately.
Finish and serve
Fold in part of the beaten egg whites.
Place the remaining egg whites on top of the sauce.
Sweeten the egg whites as well.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + potatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,012 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Lemon + potatotop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- White wine
- Provides the main liquid and acidity that flavours the sauce.
- Cornstarch or potato flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the sauce, adding richness and body.
- Egg whites
- Beaten and folded or spooned on top, adding a light, airy texture.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling wine mixture to the yolks. Pouring boiling liquid into yolks too fast or without constant stirring can scramble the eggs. Adding it gradually while whisking tempers the yolks so they thicken the sauce smoothly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, lemon, cinnamon, sugar, egg):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, lemon, cinnamon, sugar, 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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