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 ↓
Soda Water Foam
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the whites of the eggs until frothy.
Dissolve the sugar and salicylic acid in the soda water.
Add one ounce of the egg mixture to each pint of syrup.
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.
-
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
- Egg whites
- Their proteins trap air when beaten, forming the foam structure.
- White sugar
- Dissolves into the soda water to sweeten and give the syrup body.
- Soda water
- Forms the liquid base and adds carbonation for a lively, bubbly texture.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Egg white proteins must be beaten enough to trap air and hold a foam. Underbeaten whites collapse quickly when added to the syrup, so the foam will not stand.
“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.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.