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Dessert

Spiced Grapes

A preserve of grapes cooked with sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, cove, salt, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mansfield, W. H., & co., Putnam, Conn., pub. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 30 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spiced Grapes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the grapes

  1. Squeeze the pulp of the grapes out of the skins.

  2. Cook the pulp a few minutes until you can press it all through a sieve.

  3. Reject the seeds.

  4. Add a little water to the skins and cook until they are quite tender.

Make the preserve

  1. Make a syrup of three pounds of sugar, one pint of vinegar, two tablespoons of cinnamon, two tablespoons of cove, and half a teaspoon of salt.

  2. Add the grapes (this quantity is for six pounds), and boil fifteen minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

241Calories
5 gProtein
2 gFat
56 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mansfield, W. H., & co., Putnam, Conn., pub. [from old catalog]. 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. See the original page.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Sweetens the preserve and thickens it as the syrup cooks down.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness and helps preserve the fruit.
Grapes (in the method)
Supply the fruit pulp and skins that give the preserve its body and flavour.

The step that matters

Pressing the pulp through a sieve. Grape skins and seeds are tough and bitter, so the pulp must be separated thoroughly and the seeds discarded. Cooking the pulp briefly softens it so it passes through the sieve smoothly and yields a uniform texture.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, clove, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg. 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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