Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Lemonade, &C
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Place large lumps of sugar in an earthen vessel.
Put the fruit and vinegar into a jelly bag.
Let it drain over the sugar, pressing gently.
Make the syrup
Pour the liquid into a preserving pan.
Boil over moderate heat.
Once cooled, bottle the mixture.
Serve
Mix two large tablespoons of the syrup in a tumbler of water.
Add vinegar if too sweet.
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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the drink and forms the syrup base.
- Fruit
- Provides the main flavour of the drink.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness.
“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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