Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Boil 1 gallon of water for an hour.
In a large pot, combine the boiled water, 6 pounds of stoned raisins, 2 pounds of sugar, and the rinds of 2 lemons.
Ferment and store
Let the mixture stand for 13 to 14 days, stirring twice a day.
Strain the mixture.
Transfer the strained liquid to a cask, reserving some to refill as it ferments.
Do not use until fermentation has completely ceased.
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.
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Malaga raisins
- Provide the main fruit sugars and flavor that yeast ferments into alcohol.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast, driving fermentation and adding sweetness to the finished wine.
- Water
- Serves as the liquid base in which the raisin sugars dissolve and ferment.
The step that matters
Transfer to the cask and keep it topped up. As fermentation releases carbon dioxide and some liquid is lost, the reserved wine refills the cask so air exposure stays low, limiting spoilage and vinegar development.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar. 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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