Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine lemon juice and sugar.
Simmer for a few minutes, skimming off any scum until the surface is clean.
Add the thinly cut lemon peel and simmer gently for a few more minutes.
Strain and bottle
Strain the mixture through a flannel cloth.
Once cool, bottle the syrup and store it in a cool place.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity and lemon flavour that defines the syrup.
- Lump sugar
- Dissolves into the juice to give sweetness and body, and helps preserve the syrup.
- Lemon peel
- Adds aromatic oils that give the syrup a stronger lemon aroma.
The step that matters
Skimming during the simmer. Scum rising to the surface can cloud the syrup and affect its clarity, so it should be skimmed off until the surface is clean.
“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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