Why it works: Sugar and red currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and hull the strawberries.
Make the jam
In a pot, boil the red currant juice with the strawberries for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the sugar and boil rapidly for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam.
Pour the jam into small jars and cover with brandied tissue paper.
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 + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit body, flavor, and natural pectin that help the jam thicken.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with heat, helps it set and preserves it.
- Red currant juice
- Adds acidity and extra pectin to help the jam set and brighten its flavor.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar in rapidly. Once sugar is added, a rapid boil is needed to reach the concentration and temperature at which the jam sets. Boiling too gently can leave it runny, while boiling too long can make it dull and sticky. Skimming foam keeps the finished jam clear.
“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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