Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the must
Stem and mash the currants, then strain them.
Add ½ pint of water and ¾ pound of sugar to the mashed fruit.
Stir well and pour into a clean cask.
Ferment
Leave the bung-hole open or cover it with a piece of lace.
Let it stand for a month to ferment before bottling.
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.
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes: they 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
- Currants
- Supply the fruit flavour and acidity that give the wine its character.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide, and adds sweetness.
The step that matters
Leave the bung-hole open or covered with lace. Fermentation releases carbon dioxide. A tightly sealed cask can build pressure and burst, so the gas needs an outlet, while a loose cover keeps out insects and dirt.
“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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