Name: Rhubarb Wine
Ingredients: 50 pounds rhubarb; 10 gallons cold water; 3 pounds loaf sugar per gallon; juice of 1 lemon; half of the rind of 1 lemon; 2 ounces isinglass; optional: a little brandy

Why it works: Rhubarb and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 546 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Rhubarb Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rhubarb

Wipe the rhubarb with a wet cloth and bruise it well using a flat-iron on a clean table.
Place the bruised rhubarb in a tub or bowl and pour over 10 gallons of cold water.
Let it sit for 9 days, stirring 2-3 times a day.
Strain off the liquid.

Make and age the wine

Add 3 pounds of loaf sugar, the juice, and half the rind of a lemon for each gallon.
Transfer to a cask with 2 ounces of isinglass.
Leave unstopped for 1 month.
Bung it up.
Store in a cool, dry place for 12 months before bottling.
Optionally, add a little brandy to the wine.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together546 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,852 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + brandytop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,351 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Rhubarb: Supplies the tart flavour and the liquid base of the wine.
Loaf sugar: Provides sweetness and food for fermentation, giving the wine its body.
Isinglass: Fining agent that helps clear the wine by settling suspended particles.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sugar.