Why it works: Ginger and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Ginger Wine
Ingredients
Directions
In a large container, combine the strong essence of ginger, essence of cayenne, and tartaric acid.
Add the loaf sugar and pour in the boiling water, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, add the brewer’s yeast and mix well.
Cover the container and let it ferment for several days until bubbly.
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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Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Loaf sugar
- Provides the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Brewer’s yeast
- Ferments the sugar, producing alcohol and the bubbles that show fermentation is underway.
- Tartaric acid
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps keep the wine stable.
- Strong essence of ginger
- Supplies the main ginger aroma and spicy flavour.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool to room temperature before adding the yeast. Yeast is killed or stressed by very hot liquid, so the boiling water must cool first. Adding yeast too early can stop fermentation before it starts.
“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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