Thym citron

Geraniol and citral at once means you can skip the actual lemon.

Fat holds citral, which otherwise evaporates before the plate reaches the table.

Doubling the citral makes the herb read as zest rather than as medicine.

A vegetable with no aroma of its own, given citrus and resin in one leaf.

Freshwater fish is faintly muddy; citral covers that without adding acid.

Barnyard tang plus citrus herb: baked, so the fat carries both.

Floral sugar makes the citral bloom and buries the antiseptic thymol note.

Seared sweet protein, citrus herb, brown butter. Three ingredients, done.

Citral and geraniol together do what lemon alone would do too bluntly.

Lactone sweetness needs a citrus-resin brake or it tastes like tinned fruit.

Citral on top of juniper is what most modern botanical gins are already doing.

Muted berry plus citral and thymol; the herb supplies the acid the fruit lacks.