Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Helder-wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the must
Boil elderberries in water (1 gallon elderberries to 2 gallons water).
Add 3 pounds of sugar for every gallon of liquor.
When nearly cold, add a little yeast to start fermentation.
Ferment and flavour
The next day, transfer the liquor, leaving the bung out until hissing noise stops.
Put spices in a muslin bag, boil in a little liquor, and sink the bag in the cask with a pebble.
Use 4–5 ounces of spices for nine gallons of wine.
Optionally, add a few sloes or damsons to improve the wine.
Alternative method
For another method, bruise and strain ripe elderberries, then let the juice settle for 12 hours.
Mix 1.5 pints of water for every pint of juice and add 3 pounds of sugar per gallon.
Clarify with the whites of 4–5 eggs while boiling for one hour.
After cooling, add strong ale yeast and fill the vessel as it sinks during fermentation.
Bottle
After one month, the wine will be ready to bottle; it will be drinkable in 12 months.
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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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,938 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Elderberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, colour and body of the wine.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast to produce alcohol and adds sweetness.
- Strong ale yeast
- Ferments the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Eggs (in the method)
- Whites collect particles during boiling, clarifying the wine.
- Spices
- Add aromatic warmth to the finished wine.
The step that matters
Adding yeast when nearly cold. Yeast is killed by hot liquid, so it must be added only once the must has cooled enough to be safe, yet while still warm enough to start fermenting promptly.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, clove, allspice):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, allspice. 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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