Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange C Ales Eeet Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
In a pot, combine the calf's feet stock, orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, orange rinds, lemon rind, egg whites, and crushed egg shells.
Stir gently over medium heat until scum begins to form, then stop stirring.
Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes after it reaches a full boil.
Remove from heat and let it stand briefly.
Pour through a jelly bag until perfectly clear.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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
- Egg whites
- Coagulate as they heat, collecting impurities into scum so the jelly clarifies.
- Calf's feet stock
- Provides gelatin, which sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the set jelly its body.
- Orange juice
- Supplies the main citrus flavour and acidity.
The step that matters
Stopping the stirring once scum forms. Stirring after scum begins to form breaks up the coagulated egg white mass, so it cannot trap impurities and the jelly will stay cloudy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg):
- Orangethe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Limefits less well
- Raisinfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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