Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Raspberry, Currant and Gooseberry Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
Combine the fruit and water in a pot and cook until the fruit is tender.
Strain the mixture.
Thicken and serve
Add sugar, salt, and cornstarch to the strained mixture.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Strain again if necessary.
Serve very cold in cups with chipped ice.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Raspberries, currants, and gooseberries
- Provide the main flavor, color, and body of the soup.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tart berries.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the strained liquid as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cooking the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the liquid is heated to a simmer and kept cooking for a few minutes. Stopping early leaves the soup thin and can leave a raw starchy taste. Stir it in well so no lumps form.
“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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