Why it works: Raisin and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,768 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin Wink
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the raisins
Pick raisins from the stalks and cut them in half.
Soak the raisins in 2 gallons of water for 14 days, stirring once a day.
After 14 days, pour off the liquid and press the juice from the raisins into it.
Ferment and age
Transfer the mixture to a cask that can hold the total volume, ensuring it is full.
Leave the cask open until fermentation is complete.
Add 1 quart of French brandy for every 4 gallons of liquid and seal the cask tightly.
Let it stand for 6 months before bottling, avoiding drawing from the bottom of the cask.
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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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 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
- Raisins
- Provide the sugar and flavor that yeast ferments into wine.
- French brandy
- Added after fermentation to raise the alcohol content and help preserve the wine.
The step that matters
Leave the cask open until fermentation is complete. Fermentation releases carbon dioxide, and an open vessel lets it escape rather than building pressure. Sealing too early can cause the cask to burst or stall the yeast.
“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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