Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Damson Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Bruise the damson plums and add the boiling sugar syrup.
Cook for 1 hour, then let it cool.
Add the yeast and cover for 9 days.
Strain the mixture and add the chopped raisins.
When fermentation stops, add the essence of almonds, strain again, and bottle.
Keep the wine for 10 months before using.
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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Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Plum + almondtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together211 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Plum + raisintop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Damson plums
- Provide the main fruit flavour and acidity for the wine.
- Sugar syrup
- Supplies the sugar that the yeast ferments into alcohol.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Chopped raisins
- Add extra sugar and body to the wine's fruity character.
The step that matters
Adding the essence of almonds after fermentation stops. Added while fermentation is still active, the volatile almond aroma can be driven off by carbon dioxide and lost. Waiting until fermentation ends keeps the flavour in the finished wine.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup, raisin, almond):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup, raisin, almond. 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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