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, JJret
Ingredients
Directions
Cut a small slit near the stem of each apricot and remove the stone.
Blanch the apricots in boiling water for a short time, then transfer them to cold water and drain on a sieve.
Boil the syrup to a feather stage and gently add the apricots, boiling them a few times and skimming the surface.
Transfer the apricots to an earthen pan and let them sit overnight.
The next day, drain the syrup and add a small amount of fresh syrup, boiling and skimming until it reaches the small pearl stage.
Add the apricots back to the syrup, ensuring they are fully covered, and repeat this process for three days.
On the fourth day, boil the syrup to the small blorc stage, add the apricots, and boil them a few times, skimming carefully.
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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