Why it works: White wine and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Dutch Flummery
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Boil isinglass in water gently for 30 minutes.
Add white wine, lemon juice, lemon rind, and sugar.
Beat in egg yolks and mix well.
Heat mixture while stirring until scalded.
Pour into a bowl and stir until half cold.
Set and shape
Let it settle and then shape it into a melon shape.
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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White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Lemon + sugartop 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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White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like protein that dissolves in hot liquid and sets as it cools, giving the dessert its firm body.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture when gently heated and add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aroma that balance the sweetness of the sugar.
- Lemon juice
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens flavour and cuts the richness of the yolks.
The step that matters
Heating the egg yolk mixture until scalded. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but if the mixture gets too hot they can curdle and turn grainy. Stirring constantly and stopping at scalding keeps the custard smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Applefits less well
- Plumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, 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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