Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,027 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the spiced vinegar
Combine one cup of white sugar, a large pint of good cider vinegar, half an ounce of stick cinnamon, one tablespoonful of whole cloves, and the same amount of whole allspice in a pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Prepare and pour
Prick damsons and plums with a needle, wash peaches with weak lye, and rub with a coarse cloth to remove the fur.
Pour the hot liquid over the fruit.
Repeat the boiling and pouring process two or three days in succession.
Seal
Seal the jars hot if you wish to keep it for a long time.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,027 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,711 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cider + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together402 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,777 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides the acidic base that preserves the fruit and gives it its tang.
- Cinnamon
- Contributes warm aroma to the spiced pickling liquid.
- Cloves
- Contributes pungent aroma to the spiced pickling liquid.
- Allspice
- Contributes warm, peppery aroma to the spiced pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Prick damsons and plums with a needle, wash peaches with weak lye, and rub with a coarse cloth to remove the fur.. Pricking lets the hot spiced liquid penetrate the skin so the fruit absorbs flavour and does not stay firm and unseasoned at the centre. Removing the fuzz from peaches helps the liquid reach the skin evenly.
“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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