Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Syrups, Etc.
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and clarified water in a clean saucepan.
Dissolve the sugar over moderate heat.
Add the egg white before the mixture warms and stir well.
Boil and remove any scum that rises until the syrup is clear.
Strain and store
Strain through a clean cloth and store in tightly sealed bottles.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and the bulk of the syrup.
- Egg white
- Its proteins coagulate when heated and trap impurities, which rise as scum for removal.
The step that matters
Boil and remove the scum. The egg white must be added before the mixture warms, then stirred in well so it is evenly distributed. As the syrup boils, the coagulated egg white carries impurities to the surface as scum. Skimming it thoroughly is what leaves the syrup clear.
“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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