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Strawberry Vinegar, of Delicious Flavour

A fermented strawberry vinegar made by steeping strawberries in wine vinegar and sugar, then clarifying and bottling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: White wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,776 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Strawberry Vinegar, of Delicious Flavour

Ingredients

Directions

Steep the strawberries

  1. Place the strawberries in large glass jars or wide-necked bottles.

  2. Pour 1½ cups of white wine vinegar over the strawberries.

  3. Cover the strawberries with thick paper.

  4. Let the covered strawberries sit for 3 to 4 days.

  5. Strain the liquid through a jelly bag or cloth without pressing.

  6. Replace the strawberries with an equal weight of fresh strawberries.

  7. Repeat the process, reducing the amount of strawberries slightly each time.

  8. After 2 to 4 days, drain the liquid.

  9. Strain the liquid again.

Make the syrup

  1. Mix the strained liquid with an equal amount of powdered sugar until nearly dissolved.

  2. Heat the mixture over a clear fire for 5 minutes.

  3. Skim the mixture thoroughly.

  4. Pour the mixture into a clean stone pitcher or large china jugs.

  5. Cover the pitcher or jugs with a cloth until the next day.

Bottle and store

  1. Bottle the mixture in pint or half-pint bottles.

  2. Cork the bottles lightly with new velvet corks.

  3. After 4 to 5 days, cork the bottles tightly.

  4. Store the bottles in a cool, dry place.

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. White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,586 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

Strawberries
Provide the main fruit flavour and colour that the vinegar draws out.
White wine vinegar
Extracts the strawberry flavour and adds the sharp acidity that defines the finished drink.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the sharp vinegar and balances its acidity in the finished syrup.

The step that matters

Strain without pressing. Squeezing the strawberries in the jelly bag forces fine pulp through the cloth, which clouds the liquid and can add bitter, rough notes. Letting it drip keeps the syrup clear and smooth.

“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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