Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Fine Currant Syrup, or Strop De Groseilles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Remove the stems from the currants and express the juice.
Strain the juice into a clean, dry earthen pitcher and let it sit in a cool place for 24 hours or longer until it curdles.
Pour the juice through a fine sieve and then through a jelly bag or cloth to clarify.
Make the syrup
Weigh the clear juice and add an equal amount of sugar, breaking it into small pieces.
Dissolve the sugar, then transfer the mixture to a preserving pan and boil gently for 4 to 5 minutes, skimming off any scum.
After 12 hours, pour the syrup into small dry bottles, cork them, and store in a cool, dry 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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Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red currants
- Provide the tart juice that forms the base of the syrup.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, in equal weight to the juice, helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice and sugar. Boiling gently for only 4 to 5 minutes dissolves the sugar and skims off scum without caramelising the syrup or driving off too much water, keeping the flavour bright and the syrup stable for storage.
“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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