Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
German Wine Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Combine water, sugar, and cinnamon in a saucepan and boil the mixture.
Add wine equal in quantity to the water.
Heat until very hot but not boiling.
Pour the soup into a tureen over fried bread or biscuits.
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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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Cinnamon + breadtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,705 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Wine + breadtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together956 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Wine
- Adds acidity and a fruity aroma that gives the soup its character.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the wine.
The step that matters
Heating without boiling. Alcohol and delicate aromas evaporate quickly at a rolling boil, so heating until very hot but not boiling keeps the wine's flavor and aroma in the soup.
“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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