Name: Vinegar, Raspberry
Ingredients: 1 lb bruised raspberries; 1 qt cider vinegar; 1 lb fresh ripe raspberries; 1 lb sugar

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 ↓

Vinegar, Raspberry

Ingredients

1 lb bruised raspberries
1 qt cider vinegar
1 lb fresh ripe raspberries
1 lb sugar

Directions

Infuse the vinegar

Pour 1 quart of cider vinegar over 1 pound of bruised raspberries.
Strain the liquid over 1 pound of fresh ripe raspberries.
Bruise the fresh raspberries.
Drain the liquid thoroughly.

Make the syrup

Put the juice into a stone jar.
Add 1 pound of sugar for every pint of juice.
When the sugar is dissolved, place the jars in a saucepan of water and heat.
Skim the liquid.
Simmer for a few minutes.
Remove from heat.
Cover.
Bottle.

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.

Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cider + sugartop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,308 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Raspberries: Provide the main flavour and colour, with their juice carrying the fruit aroma into the vinegar.
Cider vinegar: Extracts the raspberry flavour and adds the sharp acidity that defines the finished drink.
Sugar: Sweetens the juice and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

“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.