Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Juice, or Unfermented Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the grapes
Pick grapes from stems and wash thoroughly.
Scald grapes in a double boiler until they burst open.
Extract the juice
Cool the mixture, then strain through a jelly bag without squeezing.
Let the juice stand to settle, then pour off the top, leaving sediment behind.
Sweeten and store
Add sugar to the juice and reheat to boiling, skimming carefully.
Store the juice in a cool, dark 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.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 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
- Concord grapes
- Provide the juice and the main flavour of the drink.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the grapes' natural tartness.
The step that matters
Straining without squeezing. Pressing the jelly bag pushes fine solids and pulp through, which makes the juice cloudy and gritty. Letting it drip keeps the juice clear.
“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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