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 Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine currants and water in a large container.
Add sugar according to the amount of juice produced.
Strain the mixture and pour it into a barrel, leaving 6 inches of space at the top.
Ferment
Seal the barrel and let the wine ferment.
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
- Currants
- Provide the fruit juice, flavour and acidity that give the wine its character.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast to produce alcohol and adds sweetness to the finished wine.
The step that matters
Add sugar according to the amount of juice produced. The sugar is measured per gallon of strained juice, so the amount depends on how much juice you actually get. Too little sugar gives a weak, thin wine, while too much can stress the yeast and stall fermentation.
“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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