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 pot.
Heat gently until sugar dissolves, skimming off any scum.
Add lemon peel and simmer gently for a few minutes.
Strain the mixture through a flannel.
Bottle and store
Let it cool, then bottle and cork 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 sharp acidity that defines the syrup's flavour and balances the sweetness.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and, when dissolved, thickens it and helps preserve it.
- Lemon peel
- Adds aromatic lemon oils that give the syrup its fragrance.
The step that matters
Heating until the sugar dissolves. Heating gently lets the sugar dissolve fully without scorching or caramelising. Skimming removes scum so the syrup stays clear and clean-tasting. Simmering the peel too long can draw out bitterness from the pith.
“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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