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Rhubarb Syrup

A sweet syrup made from boiled rhubarb, sugar, lemon, cloves, and ginger.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Rhubarb Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rhubarb

  1. Wipe the rhubarb but do not skin it.

  2. Cut the rhubarb into finger-length pieces.

Make the syrup

  1. Place the rhubarb in a saucepan with the cold water and boil until it is completely broken up.

  2. Strain the mixture through a canvas bag into a pan and let it cool.

  3. Once cool, add the sugar, cloves, ginger, lemon rind (only the yellow part), and lemon juice.

  4. Boil again until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly.

  5. When cold, bottle and cork the syrup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Rhubarb + gingertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Rhubarb + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together93 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the tart flavour and the bulk of the syrup once broken down.
Lump sugar
Sweetens the syrup and, as it reduces, thickens it and helps preserve it.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sharp rhubarb flavour.
Ginger
Adds a warm, aromatic spice note to the syrup.

The step that matters

Boil again until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly. Sugar and fruit juice only thicken as water evaporates, so the syrup must be reduced enough to become syrupy. Stop too early and it stays thin and may spoil sooner in storage; boil too long and it turns too thick and sticky when cold.

Swap the rhubarb

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, clove, ginger):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Rhubarbthe original

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

“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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