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 ↓
Syrup of Lemons
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan over gentle heat.
Stir until the sugar dissolves.
Skim off any foam until the surface is clear.
Add the thin-cut lemon peel.
Let the mixture simmer gently for a few minutes.
Strain and bottle
Strain the syrup through a flannel cloth.
Once cool, bottle and cork it tightly.
Store 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 acidity and bright lemon flavour that defines the syrup.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and, at this high proportion, helps preserve it.
- Lemon peel
- Adds aromatic lemon oils that flavour the syrup.
The step that matters
Skimming the foam. Foam is mostly proteins and impurities that rise as the syrup heats. Skimming until the surface is clear keeps the syrup clean, stops cloudiness, and reduces the chance of spoilage in storage.
“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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