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
Infuse the vinegar
Combine 2 quarts of fresh raspberries with 1 quart of vinegar in a jar and let it stand for 24 hours.
Strain the mixture carefully without pressing the fruit.
Repeat the process two more times with 2 more quarts of raspberries each time.
Make the syrup
Measure the vinegar and add 1 pound of crushed lump sugar for every pint of vinegar.
Place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water and stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved.
Once cooled, bottle the syrup.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh raspberries
- Provide the main flavour and colour that the vinegar draws out during steeping.
- Vinegar
- Extracts and carries the raspberry flavour and adds the tart acidity that balances the sweetness.
- Crushed lump sugar
- Sweetens the vinegar and, at this concentration, helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Dissolving the sugar gently in the water bath. Stirring frequently in gentle heat helps the sugar dissolve fully without scorching or crystallising. Undissolved sugar can leave grainy syrup that may later crystallise in the bottle.
“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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