Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Raspberry, Currant and Gooseberry Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Combine the fruit and water in a pot.
Cook until the fruit is tender.
Strain the mixture.
Add sugar, salt, and cornstarch to thicken slightly.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
If necessary, strain again.
Serve
Serve very cold in cups with chipped ice.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and color for the soup.
- Currants
- Add tartness and acidity that balances the sweetness of the soup.
- Gooseberries
- Add tartness and body from their pectin as the fruit breaks down.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the cooking liquid so the soup becomes slightly viscous.
The step that matters
Adding cornstarch to thicken slightly. Cornstarch must be cooked in the liquid to swell and thicken it. Adding it too little or not cooking it long enough leaves the soup thin, while overcooking can break down the thickened starch.
“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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