Why it works: Lemon and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,498 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Combine water, sugar, gelatine, orange juice and rind, lemon juice and rind, and coriander seeds in a saucepan.
Let the mixture soak until the gelatine softens.
Clarify and strain
Whisk the egg white and shell together.
Add the whisked egg white and shell to the mixture and whisk over heat until boiling.
Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, then strain until clear.
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 + coriandertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,498 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Orange + coriandertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Wine + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Wine + orangetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,046 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leaf gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and balances the citrus acidity.
- Egg white and shell
- Collects impurities during boiling so the jelly strains clear.
- Orange and lemon
- Provide acidity and citrus aroma from juice and rind.
- Coriander seed
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the jelly.
The step that matters
Simmer gently and strain. Boiling the egg white hard can break up the impurities it is meant to trap and cloud the jelly. A gentle simmer lets the egg white bind debris so it can be strained out, leaving a clear result.
Swap the coriander
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wine, sugar, orange, lemon, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Rosemaryfits better
- Thymefits better
- Corianderthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against wine, sugar, orange, lemon, 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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