Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Raspberry Shrub
Ingredients
Directions
Macerate
Place raspberries in a stone jar and cover with cider vinegar.
Let stand overnight.
Strain and cook
In the morning, strain and press the mixture to extract the juice.
To each quart of juice, add 1 quart of sugar and boil.
Bottle and serve
Bottle the mixture and serve with cracked 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.
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.
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cider + sugartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,308 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raspberries
- Supply the main fruit flavor, aroma and color of the shrub.
- Cider vinegar
- Extracts fruit flavor and adds the sharp acidity that defines a shrub.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the vinegar's sharpness and helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Adding sugar to the juice and boiling. Sugar must fully dissolve into the juice so the mixture becomes a uniform syrup. Sugar and acid together help preserve the shrub, so the balance of sweetness and sourness should be right before bottling.
“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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