Why it works: Sugar and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,638 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Vinegar, Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Boil water and sugar for 30 minutes, skimming if necessary.
Cool the mixture in an earthen vessel until lukewarm.
Spread yeast thickly on both sides of the bread slice and add it to the cooled mixture.
Ferment for 2 days.
Pour the mixture into a clean barrel rinsed with vinegar.
Cover the bung-hole with brown paper and poke small air holes with a fork.
Place the barrel in a dry, warm location.
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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Sugar + breadtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,638 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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