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 ↓
Ivory Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Reduce the base
Combine the ivory pond and water in a jar, cover, and place in a 350°F (175°C) oven until reduced by half.
Make and strain the jelly
Strain the mixture and let it cool to set, or heat in a pan with sherbet, lemon rind, lemon juice, and sugar.
Stir in the beaten egg whites and boil for 5 minutes.
Strain through a flannel jelly-bag dipped in hot water and wrung dry.
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).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Ivory pond
- Provides the gelling base that sets the liquid into a firm jelly.
- Whites of 4 eggs
- Clarifies the jelly by coagulating during boiling and trapping impurities for straining.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour that balances the sugar.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness, adjusted to taste.
The step that matters
Boiling after adding the egg whites. The beaten whites must be stirred in evenly and boiled so they coagulate and gather cloudy particles. Straining afterward through the wet flannel bag then removes them, leaving a clear jelly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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