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Rhubarb Wine

A fermented beverage made from rhubarb, sugar, lemon, and isinglass, aged for a year.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Rhubarb Wine

Why it works: Rhubarb and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 546 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Rhubarb Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rhubarb

  1. Wipe the rhubarb with a damp cloth and cut it into short lengths, leaving the peel on.

  2. Place the rhubarb in an earthenware or wooden vessel and crush it thoroughly with a wooden mallet or heavy potato masher.

  3. Pour the cold water over the crushed rhubarb and cover it.

  4. Let it sit for 10 days, stirring daily.

Make the wine

  1. Strain the liquid into another vessel, then add the sugar, lemon juice, and rind.

  2. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Transfer the mixture into a cask and add the isinglass dissolved in a little warm water.

  4. Cover the bung-hole with a folded cloth for 10 days.

Age and bottle

  1. Securely bung it and let it sit undisturbed for 12 months.

  2. After 12 months, rack off into bottles and use.

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.

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.

  1. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Rhubarb
Provides the main flavour and the acidity that gives the wine its tartness.
Sugar
Feeds the fermentation that turns the liquid into alcohol and adds sweetness.
Isinglass
A fining agent that helps clear the wine by collecting suspended particles for settling.
Lemon
Adds extra acidity and aroma to brighten the wine.

The step that matters

Securely bung the cask and leave it undisturbed for 12 months. Once the fermentation has slowed, air exposure can spoil the wine. A tight seal keeps oxygen out while the flavours mellow and the isinglass lets the liquid clear. Disturbing the sediment too early can cloud the wine.

Swap the rhubarb

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Rhubarbthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon. 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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