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 ↓
Currant- Wa Ter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pick over the raspberries and strip the currants from the stems.
Bruise the fruit in a preserving kettle with a wooden spoon.
Make the liquid
Pour in the cold water and add the sugar.
Set the kettle over moderate heat and let it heat gradually.
Once it begins to boil, remove the kettle from the heat.
Strain and serve
Pour the contents into a flannel jelly bag and let it drain until clear.
Cool the liquid and serve it iced, adding sugar to taste.
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
- Provide the main flavor and a pink color to the drink.
- Currants
- Add tart acidity and fruity flavor to the liquid.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the currants and raspberries.
The step that matters
Removing the kettle from the heat once it boils. Holding the fruit at a boil for too long can cook off fresh fruit flavor and dull the color, so the kettle should come off the heat as soon as boiling starts.
“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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