Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Excellent Ginger Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the wine
Combine 10 gallons of water, 15 pounds of lump sugar, and beaten and strained egg whites in a large boiler; mix well while cold.
Bring the mixture to a boil, skimming off any impurities.
Add ½ pound of bruised white ginger and boil for 20 minutes.
Prepare the thin rinds of 7 lemons and pour the hot mixture over them.
Once cool, add 2 tablespoons of yeast and mix well.
Add the liquor and age
Take 1 quart of liquor and mix it with 2 ounces of isinglass shavings while warm; whisk well 3 to 4 times.
Combine this with the rest of the mixture in a barrel and seal it.
After one day, seal it up; bottle it after three weeks, and it will be ready in three months.
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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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Lump sugar
- Provides the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol and carbonic gas.
- Egg whites
- Bind impurities that rise as foam, which are skimmed off to clarify the liquid.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugar, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- White ginger
- Adds its spicy, aromatic flavor to the wine.
- Isinglass
- Fining agent that helps clear the wine by settling suspended particles.
The step that matters
Skimming during the boil. Egg whites coagulate and carry impurities to the surface as foam. Skimming them off as the mixture boils keeps the wine clear and free of off flavors.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, lemon):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Dillfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, lemon. 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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