Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Plums in Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Rub the plums with a soft cloth.
Boil the sugar, vinegar, cloves, and cinnamon together.
Add the plums a few at a time and let them simmer gently.
As the skins crack, carefully lift them out and place them on dishes to cool.
Pack and steep
Once cool, lay the plums in a deep jar and shake to pack them closely.
Boil the vinegar and sugar mixture for a few more minutes, then pour it out.
When the syrup is cold, strain it over the plums to cover them entirely.
Leave the jar in a cool place for a week.
After a week, strain the syrup and boil it again.
If the plums are hard, pour the hot syrup over them; if soft, let it cool first.
Cover the jars and store them in a cool place.
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.
-
Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Plum + cinnamontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together513 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Plum + clovetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together446 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Plum + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together655 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Mussel plums
- Provide the fruit that softens and absorbs the spiced syrup during simmering and steeping.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fruit in the syrup.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps thicken it, balancing the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Cloves
- Contribute warm, aromatic spice flavour to the syrup.
- Stick cinnamon
- Contributes warm, sweet aromatic flavour to the syrup.
The step that matters
Pour the hot syrup over hard plums, but let soft plums cool first. Hot syrup softens firm fruit and helps it take up the sugar and vinegar, while soft fruit can break down and turn mushy if poured over while hot.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, clove, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Figfits about as well
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, clove, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
You might also like
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Clove Cake53 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
Mixed Fruit Sherbet6 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.