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Dessert

Spiced Grapes

A sweet and spicy grape preserve made with vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Spiced Grapes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Weigh 3V-J pounds of Catawba grapes after removing stems.

  2. Measure 2Vii pounds of brown sugar.

  3. Measure 1 pint vinegar, cloves, and cinnamon to taste.

Cook the grapes

  1. Squeeze grapes from skins.

  2. Scald pulp until it will pass through a sieve.

  3. Put pulp into a porcelain kettle.

  4. Add vinegar.

  5. Bring to a boil.

  6. Add skins and sugar.

  7. Boil for one hour or longer.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

16Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
4 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

What each ingredient does

Catawba grapes (in the method)
Supply the pulp and skins that form the body of the spread.
Brown sugar (in the method)
Adds sweetness and helps thicken the cooked fruit.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the sweet fruit and helps preserve it.
Cloves
Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavor.
Cinnamon
Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavor.

The step that matters

Scald pulp until it will pass through a sieve. Heat softens the pulp so it separates from the seeds and strains smoothly. Stopping too early leaves the pulp lumpy and thick, while overheating in the kettle can scorch it.

Swap the cinnamon

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Cinnamonthe original
  3. Tarragonfits less well
  4. Cardamomfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, clove. 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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