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
Macerate
Combine raspberries and vinegar in a large container.
Let the mixture sit for 4 days.
Make the shrub
Strain the mixture to extract the juice.
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of granulated sugar.
Boil the mixture for 20 minutes.
Bottle the shrub and store it in a dry, cool place.
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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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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 natural juice that forms the base of the shrub.
- Vinegar
- Extracts flavor from the fruit and adds the sharp acidity that defines a shrub.
- Granulated sugar
- Balances the acidity and adds sweetness, while helping preserve the finished syrup.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture for 20 minutes. Boiling dissolves the sugar fully and reduces the mixture, so the syrup stays stable and keeps well when bottled. Too short a boil can leave it less stable on storage.
“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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