Name: Vinegar Peaches
Ingredients: 4 pounds peaches; 2 pounds sugar; 1 cup vinegar; 2 cups water

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Vinegar Peaches

Ingredients

4 pounds peaches
2 pounds sugar
1 cup vinegar
2 cups water

Directions

Prepare the peaches

Drop peaches a few at a time in strong soda water, then in cold water and rub off the skins.

Make the syrup and cook

In a pot, make a syrup by combining sugar and 2 cups of water, then bring to a boil.
Add the peaches to the syrup and boil for fifteen minutes.
Stir in the vinegar and boil for five minutes longer.

Seal

Seal the jars tightly while hot.

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.

Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Peach + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together348 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Peaches: Provide the fruit, which softens and absorbs the sweet-sour syrup during boiling.
Sugar: Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit's texture and shape.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the sweetness of the syrup.