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 ↓
Lemon Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Juice the lemons and grate the rinds.
In a large container, combine the lemon juice, grated rinds, citric acid, and granulated sugar.
Pour in the boiling water and stir thoroughly.
Steep and bottle
Let the mixture sit for 24 hours, stirring several times.
Strain the syrup and bottle it.
Use the syrup to make lemonade.
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
- Granulated sugar
- Provides sweetness and bulk, and helps preserve the syrup.
- Citric acid
- Adds sourness and tartness, and helps keep the syrup stable.
- Lemon juice
- Supplies the main lemon flavour and acidity.
- Lemon rinds
- Contribute aromatic oils that add lemon fragrance and flavour.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture sit for 24 hours with stirring. Sugar must fully dissolve and the citrus flavour and oils must steep into the liquid. Stirring several times keeps the sugar and solids evenly distributed so the syrup tastes consistent after straining.
“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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