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Barberries Preserved with Pears

Barberries preserved in molasses syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and syrup work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 272 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Barberries Preserved with Pears

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pick the barberries free from stems and imperfections.

Cook in molasses

  1. Boil the molasses in a large pot.

  2. Add the barberries to the boiling molasses and cook for about 50 minutes.

Jar and save syrup

  1. Skim the barberries out and place them in jars.

  2. Save 2 quarts of the syrup for drinks.

  3. Pour the remainder over the barberries.

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.

  1. Molasses + syruptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together272 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

Barberries
The fruit that gives the preserve its main tart flavour and texture.
Molasses
Provides the sweetness and deep flavour, and its thick sugary syrup helps preserve the fruit.

The step that matters

Cooking the barberries in boiling molasses. Boiling syrup can split or toughen the berries if they cook too long, so the 50-minute timing matters. Skimming them out promptly keeps them whole and stops further cooking.

“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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