Why it works: Lime and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,289 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
To Preserve Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
In a large vessel, combine quick-lime and salt.
Slack the mixture with boiling water and let it boil until thick as cream.
Once cooled, pour off the clear liquid.
Drain the liquid and pour it over the eggs, ensuring they are fully covered.
Use a stone jar that holds about six quarts for best results.
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.
-
Lime + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,289 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Lime + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,658 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
Swap the lime
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, egg):
- Orangefits about as well
- Limethe original
- Raspberryfits less well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More preserved eggs recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.