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 Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Steep the fruit
Pick the raspberries from the stalks.
Place 1½ pints of raspberries in a stone jar.
Pour 3 pints of vinegar over the raspberries.
Let the mixture sit for 24 hours.
Strain the liquid over another pint of fresh raspberries.
Let the mixture sit for another 24 hours.
Repeat the process.
Drain the liquid without pressing.
Sweeten and heat
Pass the liquid through a jelly bag into a stone jar.
Add 1 lb of sugar for every pint of liquid.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Cover the jar.
Place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water.
Boil for 1 hour.
Skim off any scum.
Add ⅓ cup of brandy for each pint of liquid.
Bottle
Bottle the vinegar.
Seal the corks.
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).
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Vinegar + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 aroma that the vinegar takes up.
- Vinegar
- Provides sharp acidity and extracts the fruit's flavour into the liquid.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a small amount of alcohol to the finished liquid.
The step that matters
Drain the liquid without pressing. Pressing the fruit forces pulp and small solids through the strainer, which clouds the liquid and can leave a rougher, less clear vinegar.
“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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