Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Soak the sheep shanks in cold water overnight.
Place the shanks in a pot with 2 quarts of water and simmer until reduced to 1 quart.
Cool the mixture and remove the oil from the top with a spoon or cloth.
Make the jelly
Combine the stock, sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, egg whites, and egg shells.
Whisk the mixture over low heat until it begins to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Prepare a jelly bag by scalding it in hot water and suspending it over a basin.
Pour the mixture through the jelly bag, returning the first strainings back into the bag until all has run through.
Transfer the jelly into a mold or basin to cool.
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 + lemontop 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Sheep shanks
- Long simmering draws gelatin and flavour from the bones and connective tissue into the stock.
- Egg whites
- As they heat, they collect impurities and clarify the liquid, leaving it clear.
- Egg shells
- Their fine particles help trap cloudiness so the finished jelly looks clearer.
- Lump sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the liquid set into a firm, sliceable jelly.
- Lemon juice
- Provides acidity and bright flavour that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Returning the first strainings to the jelly bag. The first liquid running through may carry cloudy particles. Pouring it back through the bag filters it again, so the finished jelly comes out clear rather than murky.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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