Cherry or Currant Sauce

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.

1. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together30,779 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

2. Currant + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together693 recipes

   Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

3. Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together4,099 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together20,806 recipes

   Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

5. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together5,187 recipes

   Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Cherries or currants

Provide the fruit base, along with juice and pectin that thicken the sauce as it cooks.

Sugar

Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves, helps thicken the sauce into a syrup.

Vinegar

Adds acidity that brightens the fruit flavor and balances the sugar.

Cinnamon

Adds warm aroma and spice to the fruit.

The step that matters

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.