Why it works: Pineapple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,964 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pineapple Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare and remove the eyes from the pineapple, then grate it or process it in a mincing machine.
Measure two-thirds of the pineapple's weight in sugar.
Cook the jam
Cook the pineapple until it becomes clear.
Add the juice of 1 lemon for each pound of fruit and the sugar.
Cook quickly until the jam is transparent and a nice golden color.
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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Pineapple + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Pineapple
- Supplies the fruit, bulk, and flavor the jam is built on.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it cooks down, thickens it and helps preserve it.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps the jam set.
The step that matters
Cook quickly until transparent and golden. Sugar concentrates as the jam boils, and prolonged heating darkens the color and dulls the fresh pineapple flavor. A brisk boil reaches setting point while keeping the fruit bright and fresh-tasting.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Limefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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