Why it works: Apricot and syrup work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 451 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ripe Apricots, Pared, Wet
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the stones from the apricots and lightly peel them with a small knife.
Blanch the apricots in boiling water, being careful not to break them.
Transfer the apricots to cold water and drain them on a sieve.
Boil the syrup until it reaches a feather stage.
Gently add the apricots to the syrup and boil a few times, skimming as needed.
Place the apricots in an earthen pan and drain the syrup the next day.
Add a small quantity of fresh syrup to the drained syrup and boil until it reaches a small pearl stage.
Return the apricots to the syrup, let it boil over them, skim, and place them back in the pan.
Repeat this process on the third day.
On the fourth day, boil the syrup to a small blow, add the apricots, boil a few times, skim carefully, and store them in dry pans.
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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Apricot + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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