Why it works: Sugar and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,586 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Iceland Moss Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Boil 4 ounces of Iceland moss in 1 quart of water, stirring continuously.
After about 45 minutes, add 2 ounces of lump sugar and ⅓ cup of white wine.
Strain the mixture through muslin into a basin.
Set and serve
Let the jelly set firm and cold before serving.
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 + white winetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Iceland moss
- Its natural gums thicken the liquid and set it into a jelly as it cools.
- Lump sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the earthy flavour of the moss.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aroma to the jelly.
The step that matters
Boiling the moss until it dissolves its gums. The moss must be boiled long enough for its gums to release into the water, since these gums are what thicken the liquid. Under-boiling leaves the jelly weak and runny, while the strained liquid needs to cool fully to set.
“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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