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, Are Preserved
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the stones from the apricots and blanch them in boiling water without breaking them.
Transfer the apricots to cold water and drain them on a sieve.
Boil syrup until it reaches a feather stage, then gently add the apricots until they float.
Boil the apricots a few times, skim the syrup, and place them in an earthen pan.
The next day, drain the syrup and add a small amount of fresh syrup; boil and skim until it reaches a small pearl stage.
Add the apricots to the syrup, ensuring it boils over them, then skim and return them to 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 until needed.
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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