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 Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Steep the lemons
Pare and cut the lemons.
Steep the rinds in the juice and add the brandy.
Let it stand for 3 days in a closed earthen pot.
Make the lemon water
Squeeze 6 more lemons and mix with the spring water and sugar.
Boil the water, lemons, and sugar together, then let it cool.
Blend and age
Add the white wine, remaining lemons, and brandy, and mix well.
Strain through a flannel bag into a vessel.
Let it stand for 3 months, then bottle it.
Bottle
Cork the bottles well and keep them cool; it will be ready to drink in 1 to 6 weeks.
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).
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Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Lemon + brandytop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,351 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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 acidity, aroma, and flavour from the juice and rinds.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol that preserves the wine and carries the citrus aroma.
- Spring water
- Makes up the bulk of the liquid and dilutes the lemon strength.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp acidity of the lemons.
The step that matters
Let the boiled mixture cool before adding the brandy and wine. Alcohol evaporates readily from hot liquid, so adding spirit to a boiling mixture wastes alcohol and dulls aroma. Cooling first keeps the brandy's strength and fragrance in the finished wine.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sugar. 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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