Why it works: Coriander and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,498 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine water, loaf sugar, and the thinly peeled rinds of the oranges and lemons in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the juice of the fruit, wine, and coriander seed.
Allow the syrup to cool slightly.
Whisk the egg whites until frothy and stir them into the syrup.
Add the gelatin and clarify
Soak the gelatin in cold water.
Strain the gelatin and add it to the syrup.
Heat the mixture until it boils.
Reduce heat and simmer until the gelatin is fully melted.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag or fine cloth rinsed in boiling water until clear.
Set and serve
Pour the clear mixture into molds.
Let the molds cool.
Once set, immerse the molds in tepid water.
Turn out the set jelly onto a dish.
Serve.
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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Coriander + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,498 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Coriander + orangetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sherry + orangetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together823 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatin
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly when it cools.
- Egg whites
- Collect impurities as they heat, helping clarify the jelly to a clear finish.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and adds body to the jelly.
- White or sherry wine
- Adds acidity and aroma to the jelly's flavor.
- Lemons
- Their zest and juice add acidity and bright citrus aroma.
- Oranges
- Their zest and juice add sweet citrus aroma and flavor.
The step that matters
Straining until clear. Egg white must be heated with the syrup and then strained through a fine cloth. Rushing this leaves cloudiness and bits of coagulated egg in the jelly, so the strain has to be slow and thorough.
Swap the coriander
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, sherry, orange, lemon, sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Corianderthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, sherry, orange, lemon, sugar, egg. 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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