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 ↓
Raspberry Shrub
Ingredients
Directions
Make the shrub
Combine raspberries and cider vinegar in a container and let stand for 24 hours.
Mash the mixture and strain it through cheesecloth.
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of sugar and boil for 20 minutes.
Bottle the mixture and store it in a cool place.
Serve
To serve, mix 2 tablespoons of the shrub with a glass of ice 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.
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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 color for the shrub.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the shrub its tart, sharp character and helps preserve it.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with sweetness and helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar. Boiling dissolves the sugar fully into the juice and concentrates the syrup, which helps the shrub keep in storage. Undercooking leaves it less stable and the flavor less balanced.
“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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