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 ↓
Spiced Currants
Ingredients
Directions
Combine ripe fruit, sugar, vinegar, and ground spice in a large pot.
Boil the mixture for one hour.
Pour into jars and cover as you would for other preserves.
Let sit for at least three months before using.
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 + 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
- Ripe fruit
- Provides the bulk of the preserve and its main fruity flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and helps it set and keep as it cooks down.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fruit.
The step that matters
Let sit for at least three months before using. Vinegar, sugar and spice mellow and blend over time, so the flavour is sharp and disjointed if the preserve is opened too soon.
“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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