Why it works: Lemon and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Rhenish Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the isinglass in hot water and let it cool.
Stir in the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon peels, white wine, and sugar until well mixed.
Boil gently until thick enough to pour into molds.
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 + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Lemon + sugartop 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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Isinglass
- Sets the liquid into a firm, jelly-like structure as it cools.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture and add richness and a custard-like texture when heated.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the acidity of the lemon and wine.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright flavour that cuts through the richness of the yolks.
- White wine
- Contributes acidity and aromatic flavour to the cream.
The step that matters
Boil gently until thick enough to pour into molds. Egg yolks thicken when heated but can curdle or scramble if boiled hard. Gentle heat lets the mixture thicken smoothly, and the isinglass then sets it as it cools.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, white wine, sugar):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Applefits less well
- Plumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, white wine, 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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