Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Egg- and Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the egg yolk until very light.
Add the wine and sugar to the egg yolk and mix well until combined.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Wine + sugartop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + winetop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Provides richness and emulsifies with the wine to form a smooth, thickened base.
- Wine
- Adds acidity and aroma, and lightens the texture of the yolk mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and balances the acidity of the wine.
The step that matters
Beat the egg yolk until very light. Beating incorporates air and thickens the yolk, giving the mixture body and a light texture. Under-beaten yolk stays dense and may not combine smoothly with the wine.
“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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