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Strawberry Vinegar, of Delicious Flavour

A preserved strawberry vinegar made by macerating strawberries in wine vinegar and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: White wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,776 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Strawberry Vinegar, of Delicious Flavour

Ingredients

Directions

Steep the fruit

  1. Place the strawberries in large glass jars or wide-necked bottles.

  2. Pour the vinegar over the strawberries and cover with thick paper.

  3. Let the mixture sit for 3 to 4 days.

  4. Strain the liquid through a jelly bag or cloth without pressing.

  5. Replace the strawberries with an equal weight of fresh strawberries and repeat the process, reducing the amount of strawberries slightly each time.

  6. After 2 to 4 days, drain the liquid and strain it again through a linen or flannel bag.

Sweeten and heat

  1. Mix the strained liquid with an equal quantity of sugar and stir until nearly dissolved.

  2. Heat the mixture over a clear fire for 5 minutes, skimming thoroughly.

  3. Pour into a clean stone pitcher or large china jugs and cover with a cloth until the next day.

Bottle and store

  1. Bottle in pint or half-pint bottles, corking lightly with new velvet corks.

  2. After 4 to 5 days, cork tightly and store in a dry, cool place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,586 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

Strawberries
Provide the main fruit flavour and aroma that the vinegar draws out.
White wine vinegar
Extracts the fruit flavour and adds the sharp acidity that gives the drink its tang.
Sugar
Sweetens the sharp vinegar and balances its acidity.

The step that matters

Strain without pressing. Squeezing the bag pushes fine pulp and solids through the cloth, which makes the liquid cloudy and can add unwanted bitter or cooked flavours. Letting it drip slowly keeps the result clear and clean-tasting.

“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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