Why it works: Medlar and sugar work together. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Medlar Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Wash the medlar fruit and place it in a preserving pan with a little water.
Simmer gently until it becomes a pulp.
Strain the mixture through a flannel bag.
Make the jelly
For every pint of juice, add ½ lb. of loaf sugar and boil until clear.
If the jelly is not firm when cold, boil it longer.
Pour the jelly into small shapes or pots.
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.
-
Medlar + sugartop 35% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4 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
- Medlar fruit
- Provides the pectin and flavour that give the jelly its body and taste.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm as it cools.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar until clear. Sugar and pectin must be boiled together long enough to reach the setting point. Too little boiling leaves the jelly soft, while the sugar helps it hold its shape when cold.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.