Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Excellent Ginger Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a large boiler, combine 10 gallons of water and 15 pounds of lump sugar.
Add the beaten and strained egg whites, mixing well while cold.
Bring the mixture to a boil, skimming it well.
Add the bruised ginger and boil for 20 minutes.
Pour the hot liquid over the thin rinds of the lemons.
Ferment and clarify
Once cool, add 2 tablespoons of yeast and mix well.
Take 1 quart of the liquor and whisk it with 2 ounces of isinglass shavings while warm, then combine with the rest of the mixture in a barrel.
Seal and bottle
Seal the barrel the next day and bottle the wine after 3 weeks. It will be ready to enjoy in 3 months.
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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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 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).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Lump sugar
- Provides the sweetness and the sugar that yeast converts into alcohol.
- Egg whites
- Bind to impurities as they heat, so skimming lifts them out and the wine clears.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Isinglass
- Fining agent that helps settle suspended particles so the wine clears.
- Common white ginger
- Adds its aromatic, spicy flavour to the wine.
- Lemon rinds
- Add aromatic citrus oils and a bright flavour to the liquid.
The step that matters
Skimming while the egg whites heat. Egg whites coagulate and trap cloudy impurities as the mixture heats. Skimming them off as they rise removes this debris, so skipping or rushing it leaves the wine hazy.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, lemon):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Dillfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, lemon. 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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