Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Rhubarb Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the rhubarb stalks and cut them into 1‑inch pieces.
Place the rhubarb in a preserving kettle with enough water to cover it and boil until soft.
Strain
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag to extract the juice.
Make the jelly
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of sugar and boil again, skimming often.
When the jelly forms on the skimmer, remove it from the heat and pour it into pans.
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rhubarb stalks
- Supplies the tart flavour and the juice that becomes the jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with the fruit's acid, helps the juice set into a firm jelly.
The step that matters
Judging when the jelly forms on the skimmer. The jelly sets only when sugar, acid and pectin reach the right concentration. Stop boiling too early and it stays runny; boil too long and it can turn stiff or candy-like.
“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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