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 ↓
Syrup of Lemons
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a pot, combine lemon juice and lump sugar.
Heat gently until the sugar dissolves and the surface is clear.
Add the thinly cut lemon peel and simmer for a few minutes.
Strain and store
Strain the mixture through a flannel.
Once cold, bottle it tightly and store in a cool place.
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).
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
- Lump sugar
- Provides sweetness and, at high concentration, helps preserve the syrup.
- Lemon juice
- Supplies acidity and the main lemon flavour of the syrup.
- Lemon peel
- Adds aromatic oils and bitter citrus flavour as it simmers in the syrup.
The step that matters
Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Heating gently lets the sugar dissolve fully without scorching or caramelising. Undissolved crystals can recrystallise later, leaving the syrup grainy.
“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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