Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raspberry Shrub
Ingredients
Directions
Make the shrub
Combine 3 quarts of mashed raspberries with 1 quart of vinegar and let it sit for 24 hours.
Strain the mixture and add 3 pounds of white sugar.
Boil the mixture for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam.
Once cool, add 1½ cups of brandy for each pint of shrub.
Serve
To serve, mix 2 tablespoons of shrub with ⅔ of a tumbler of water.
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.
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Vinegar + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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 fruit flavour and colour of the shrub.
- Vinegar
- Adds the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and preserves the fruit.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the shrub and helps preserve it once boiled.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol that helps keep the finished shrub stable and adds aroma.
The step that matters
Skimming the boil. Foam that forms during boiling carries impurities and can cloud the syrup or spoil its clean flavour, so it should be skimmed off as the mixture simmers.
“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.
More raspberry shrub recipes
You might also like
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Sugar Vinegar20 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.