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 ↓
Lemonade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lemon
Roll the lemon to soften it.
Remove the thin outer rind, avoiding the bitter pith.
Place the rind in a small bowl.
Add the lemon juice.
Make the lemonade
Pour the cold water over the mixture.
Add the sugar.
Let it stand for a few hours.
Add more water to make a quart.
Do not use boiling water as it alters the taste.
Add a pinch of carbonate of soda for a fizzy drink.
Mix with a teaspoon of cold water.
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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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
- Provides the main flavour, with its juice for acidity and its rind for aroma.
- Lump sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the lemon's acidity.
- Cold water
- Forms the liquid base and dilutes the lemon and sugar to a drinkable strength.
- Carbonate of soda
- Releases carbon dioxide when mixed, giving the drink a fizz.
The step that matters
Use cold water, not boiling water. Boiling water alters the taste of the lemon, so keep the water cold throughout to preserve the fresh lemon flavour.
“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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