Why it works: Lemon and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,157 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Made Wines
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the liquid
Boil lemons, egg whites, and water in a kettle for 30 minutes, skimming well.
Place cow slips and thin peelings of 6 lemons in a tub, then pour the boiling liquid over them.
Stir and let it cool, then add the toast rubbed with yeast.
Ferment
Let it stand for 2-3 days to ferment.
If desired, add syrup of citron or lemon and Rhenish wine before fermentation.
On the third day, strain through a coarse cloth and squeeze the cow slips.
Strain again through a flannel bag and transfer to a container.
Leave the bung loose for 2-3 days until fermentation is complete, then seal tightly.
Age and bottle
Let it stand for 3 months, then bottle.
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 + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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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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Lemon + syruptop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Syrup + winetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together381 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + syruptop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,995 recipes
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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 acidity and lemon aroma that define the wine's flavour.
- Egg whites
- Bind fine particles as they rise, helping clarify the liquid when skimmed.
- Yeast
- Drives fermentation, converting sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Cow slips
- Add floral aroma and flavour to the liquid during steeping.
The step that matters
Leave the bung loose during fermentation. Active fermentation releases carbon dioxide, which can build pressure and burst a sealed container. Sealing only after fermentation has finished lets gas escape safely while the wine is still working.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, syrup, wine):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Pineapplefits less well
- Pearfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, syrup, wine. 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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