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Gooseberries, Green, Compote of

A compote of green gooseberries simmered in a vinegar-sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and sugar 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 ↓

Gooseberries, Green, Compote of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gooseberries

  1. Top and tail the gooseberries.

  2. Blanch the gooseberries in boiling water for 2 minutes.

  3. Transfer them to cold water mixed with vinegar for 2 minutes.

  4. Drain the gooseberries.

Make the compote

  1. Boil the sugar with water for 10 minutes to make a syrup.

  2. Add the gooseberries to the syrup and boil gently for 10 minutes until tender but unbroken.

  3. Serve cold with the syrup.

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. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 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

Gooseberries
Provide the fruit that softens into the compote while keeping its shape.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, dissolved in water, forms the syrup that surrounds it.
Vinegar
Adds a touch of acidity to the cold water bath used after blanching.

The step that matters

Add the gooseberries to the syrup and boil gently for 10 minutes until tender but unbroken. A rolling boil breaks the fruit apart. Gentle simmering softens the cell walls slowly, so the gooseberries stay whole while the syrup thickens and sweetens them.

“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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