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 ↓
Simple Syrups
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine 8 pounds of fine white sugar and 2 quarts of water.
Add the whites of 2 eggs or dissolved Isinglass.
Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Let the mixture simmer for 3 minutes.
Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.
Strain the syrup through fine flannel.
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
- Fine white sugar
- Provides sweetness and the bulk of the syrup, dissolving into the water to form the liquid.
- Egg whites
- Coagulate while simmering and collect impurities, which are then skimmed off to clarify the syrup.
The step that matters
Skim off the foam. Impurities rise to the surface as the syrup simmers. Leaving them in can cloud the syrup and affect its clarity, so they should be removed before 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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