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Gooseberries, Compote of

A sweet and tart compote made from gooseberries simmered in syrup and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Gooseberries, Compote of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Top and tail the gooseberries, ensuring they are not very ripe.

  2. Pour boiling water over the gooseberries.

  3. Plunge the gooseberries into cold water mixed with vinegar.

Make the syrup

  1. Make a pint of syrup and bring it to a boil.

  2. Drain the gooseberries and add them to the boiling syrup.

  3. Simmer gently until the fruit is pulped and tender but not broken.

Serve

  1. Dish the gooseberries on a glass dish.

  2. Boil the syrup for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Pour the hot syrup over the gooseberries and serve cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Syrup + vinegartop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together385 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gooseberries
Provide the main fruit body and tart flavour that the compote is built around.
Syrup
Sweetens the fruit and keeps it moist while it simmers and cools.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps the fruit keep its colour.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until the fruit is pulped and tender but not broken. Vigorous boiling breaks the gooseberry skins and bursts the fruit, leaving a ragged texture. A gentle simmer lets the pectin-rich fruit soften evenly while holding its shape.

“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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