Saba (grape must syrup) substitutes

Structurally the same product by a shortcut: cooked-down grape must. Use 100 percent grape juice with no added sugar, ideally a dark Concord or red variety, and simmer it gently, uncovered, until it is syrupy on a cold spoon. It comes out a shade less complex than a good Italian saba, fewer of the caramelized, slightly raisiny notes that come from long open-pan cooking of fresh must, but it is genuinely close, and far cheaper. A dark, dry-ish juice gives a better result than a sweet grape drink.

Best for

drizzling on cheese, especially pecorino, ricotta and Parmigiano, finishing roasted vegetables, squash and onions, gelato, panna cotta and fresh fruit, glazing pork, duck and sausages at the end of cooking

Add a squeeze of lemon or a teaspoon of red wine vinegar to the finished syrup if it tastes flat, and a strip of orange peel or a bay leaf during the simmer if you want more depth. Skim any foam.

Balsamic and saba start from the same place, cooked grape must, so the flavor family is right. The difference is fermentation: balsamic has been turned into vinegar and saba has not, so straight balsamic is far more acidic. Reducing it and stirring in honey concentrates the fruit and buries the sharpness, and the result reads as sweet with a pleasant tang rather than sour. On strawberries or ricotta it works beautifully; a trained palate will notice more wood and more acid than real saba has.

Best for

cheese plates and charcuterie, strawberries, figs and stone fruit, roasted vegetables, finishing risotto or polenta

Use cheap supermarket balsamic for this, not an aged bottle. Taste as you add honey, some balsamics are already sweet enough to need very little.

The best like-for-like on texture: a dark, thick, fruit-based syrup that drizzles and clings the same way. Pomegranate molasses is considerably more tart and more tannic than saba, with a bright sour edge, so a dish made with it straight tastes distinctly Levantine rather than Italian. The honey softens that. Excellent on roasted vegetables, lamb and feta; a bit sharp for a delicate dessert.

Best for

roasted vegetables, carrots and aubergine, lamb, chicken and meatballs, feta, labneh and goat cheese, grain and lentil salads

Brands vary a lot in sourness. Taste before deciding how much honey to add, and start with less.

Very close on the things that matter physically, dark, thick, unfermented fruit syrup, sweet with a faint tang, which makes it a comfortable swap in almost any savory or sweet finishing role. The flavor moves from grape toward caramel and dried fruit, so a squash dish finished with it tastes deeper and more toffee-like and less winey. A teaspoon of lemon juice per two tablespoons brings the brightness closer.

Best for

roasted root vegetables and squash, yogurt, ricotta and porridge, cheese boards, glazing meat off the heat

One of the easiest swaps to buy, since Middle Eastern groceries and most large supermarkets carry it. Molasses works too but is much more bitter, so cut it half and half with honey.

The cupboard-only fallback. You get the sweetness, the pourability and a hint of the acid, which covers most of saba's function in a dressing or a glaze. What you lose is the depth and the dark color: maple tastes woody and unmistakably maple, honey tastes floral, and neither has the raisiny grape character or the near-black gloss. Fine mixed into a vinaigrette, obviously different as a drizzle on a plate.

Best for

vinaigrettes and marinades, glazes brushed on at the end of roasting, sweetening a pan sauce, porridge and yogurt

If you have any grape jelly or jam, melting a spoonful with a little water and vinegar gets closer to the grape note than maple does.

The most likely thing to already be in your fridge, and the visual match is exact. Because glaze is reduced vinegar rather than reduced juice, it is noticeably sharper, a spoonful over vanilla gelato tastes tangy and grown-up rather than sweet and fruity, which may or may not be what you wanted. Stirring in half a teaspoon of honey per tablespoon takes it most of the way to saba. In savory dishes the difference is minor; in desserts it is obvious.

Best for

savory drizzles on vegetables and meat, cheese boards, salads, bruschetta

Check the label for added thickeners and caramel color, the cleaner the ingredient list, the closer it tastes to a real reduction and to saba.