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 ↓
Aspbehry Shrub
Ingredients
Directions
Place red raspberries in a stone jar and cover with cider vinegar.
Let it stand overnight.
In the morning, strain the mixture.
To the juice, add sugar and boil for 10 minutes.
Bottle the mixture while hot.
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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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
- Red raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and juice that forms the base of the shrub.
- Cider vinegar
- Extracts flavor from the fruit and gives the shrub its sharp, acidic tang.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with sweetness and helps preserve the finished syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar. Boiling dissolves the sugar fully into the juice and gives the syrup a stable, shelf-friendly body. Boiling for the full 10 minutes ensures the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is properly heated 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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