Artificial Lemon-juice

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.

1. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together20,806 recipes

   Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together53,532 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

3. Vinegar + lemontop 20% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together7,334 recipes

   Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and lemon 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

Crystal vinegar

Provides the sharp acidity that imitates the tang of lemon juice.

Lump sugar

Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.

Lemon peel

Contributes aromatic citrus oils that add lemon flavor to the vinegar.

Swap the lemon

The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Strawberryfits better
3. Pineapplefits better
4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.