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 ↓
Lemon Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare the rind of the lemons very thinly.
Put the rind in a saucepan with the water and boil gently for 15 minutes.
Make the syrup
Add the juice of the lemons and boil for another 15 minutes with the lid tightly closed.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag and return it to the pan.
Add the sugar and citric acid, then boil gently for 5 minutes.
Allow the syrup to cool and bottle it 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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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
- Lemons
- Supply the flavour from the rind and the juice, which gives the syrup its tartness.
- White sugar
- Provides sweetness and body, and helps the syrup keep once bottled.
- Citric acid
- Adds extra sourness and sharpness to balance the sugar.
The step that matters
Boiling the rind in water. Boiling gently for the full 15 minutes softens the rind and draws its oils and flavour into the water. Rapid boiling can make the syrup bitter, so keep the heat low.
“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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