Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Ginger Cordial
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the ginger infusion
Combine the ground ginger and cold water in a large pot and stir the mixture well.
Place the pot in a 400°F (200°C) oven. When the mixture simmers, stir again.
Once it boils, open the oven door and let it simmer gently for 6 hours, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pot from the oven and cover it.
The next day, repeat the process for another 6 hours.
After cooling, pour off the clearer liquid, leaving the sediment behind.
If you do not have 1 quart of liquid, simmer longer or add water.
Finish the cordial
Dissolve the sugar in the ginger water and bring to a boil.
Once cooled, add the spirits of wine and stir well.
Filter the mixture.
Optionally, add a few bitter almonds to the spirits of wine a few days before mixing.
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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Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together701 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Ginger + spirittop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together88 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Ginger + winetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,626 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sugar + spirittop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together602 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Ground ginger
- Provides the main flavour and aroma as its compounds are extracted into the water.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the finished cordial.
- Spirits of wine
- Acts as the alcohol base that carries the flavour and preserves the cordial.
The step that matters
Pour off the clearer liquid after cooling. Ginger leaves fine sediment that makes the cordial cloudy if disturbed. Letting it settle and decanting only the clear liquid keeps the final drink smooth and clear.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, spirit, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Rosemaryfits about as well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, spirit, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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