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 ↓
Lemonade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lemons
Remove all the outside pith from the lemons.
Cut each lemon into four pieces and remove all the seeds.
Steep and strain
Put the lemons, rind, and sugar into a jug.
Pour 1½ pints of boiling water over them.
Cover the jug and place it in a cool place.
When cold, strain the lemonade.
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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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
- Lemons
- Provide the main acidity and aroma, with the rind adding fragrant oils to the drink.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the drink and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
The step that matters
Remove all the outside pith from the lemons. The white pith under the rind is bitter. Removing the outer pith keeps the lemon's oils and flavour clean, so the drink tastes bright rather than bitter.
“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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