Why it works: Lemon and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,273 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Combine all ingredients except ½ cup of wine in a jelly pan.
Whisk over moderate heat until the gelatin melts.
Increase heat and whisk until the jelly begins to boil.
Stop whisking and let the jelly boil to the top of the saucepan.
Pour in half of the remaining wine and boil the jelly again.
Add the rest of the wine and boil the jelly a third time.
Set aside for about ten minutes.
Strain and set
Strain through a prepared jelly bag two or three times until clear.
Mould in prepared small dariole or timbale moulds and refrigerate to set.
Turn out and serve
To turn out, immerse the moulds quickly in hot water, then cold, and turn out the jelly onto a glass dish.
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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Lemon + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Egg whites and shells
- Bind impurities and clarify the jelly so it strains clear.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the jelly its body.
- Lemons
- Provide acidity and fragrance from the juice and rind.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and depth of flavour to the jelly.
The step that matters
Strain until clear. Egg whites must be whisked in and the jelly boiled so the whites coagulate and trap cloudy particles. Straining through a jelly bag two or three times removes them, giving a clear set jelly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, sherry, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pineapplefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, sherry, 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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