Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Observations on Preserving
Ingredients
Directions
In a preserving pan, combine 6 pounds of sugar with 5 pints of cold spring water.
Lightly beat the egg white in a separate pint and add it to the sugar mixture, stirring well.
Set the pan over a gentle fire and let the sugar dissolve, allowing scum to rise without disturbance.
After boiling for 5 minutes, remove from heat and let it stand for 2 minutes before skimming off the scum.
Boil again, then add ½ cup of cold water to bring remaining scum to the surface and skim until clear.
Strain the syrup through a thin cloth for use.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White sugar
- Forms the sweet syrup base that the water dissolves into.
- Egg white
- Coagulates as it heats, trapping impurities so they rise as scum for skimming.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum. Impurities from the sugar rise as scum while the syrup heats. Skimming only after the scum has fully risen, and again after the second boil, leaves the syrup clear rather than cloudy.
“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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