Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Blackberry Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Wash and pick one gallon of fresh berries.
Pour a half gallon of good cider vinegar over them.
Let stand twenty hours.
Then strain.
Make the syrup
To each pint of juice add three fourths of a pound of sugar.
Boil half an hour, and skim carefully.
Bottle and serve
When cold, bottle and cork lightly.
When used, pour the depth of an inch in the glass.
Fill with water, poured ice, and season with nutmeg.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 8 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Cider | not in our table | 0 |
| Wheat | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
-
Wheat + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together359 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh berries
- Supply the main fruit flavour and colour for the vinegar.
- Cider vinegar
- Extracts fruit flavour and provides the sharp acidity that defines the drink.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the juice and balances the acidity of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Let stand twenty hours. Steeping the berries in vinegar draws out their juice and flavour. Stopping early leaves the fruit weakly flavoured, and the juice should be strained only after the full standing time.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, wheat, molasses, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Clovefits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, wheat, molasses, sugar. 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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