Why it works: Vinegar and sugar 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 ↓
Raspberry Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse the vinegar
Pour 1 quart of vinegar over 6 quarts of mashed raspberries.
Let the mixture stand for 24 hours.
Strain the vinegar into another jar.
Add 2 quarts of fresh raspberries to the strained vinegar.
Let it stand for another 24 hours.
Strain again.
Repeat this process a third time until the vinegar thickens.
Sweeten and bottle
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of white sugar and ⅓ cup of brandy or whisky.
Bottle and seal the mixture.
To serve, mix 1/8 of a glassful of the vinegar with water.
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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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vinegar + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Vinegar
- Extracts the raspberry flavour and acidity that give the drink its tang.
- Raspberries
- Supply the fruit flavour, colour and juice that the vinegar draws out.
- White sugar
- Balances the sharp acidity with sweetness and helps preserve the syrup.
- French brandy or bourbon whisky
- Adds aroma and helps preserve the flavour in the bottled mixture.
The step that matters
Repeated straining with fresh fruit. Each round of fresh raspberries adds more flavour and colour to the vinegar. Straining off the spent fruit before adding new fruit keeps the infusion clean and stops it from turning mouldy or fermenting in the jar.
“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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