Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and core the quinces, then cut them into thin slices or mince them.
Cook the fruit
Place the quinces in a preserving pan with just enough water to prevent burning.
Cook gently until the quinces are tender.
Add sugar and preserve
Add an equal weight of sugar to the fruit.
Preserve quickly until the jam is clear and transparent.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 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
- Quinces
- Provide the bulk of the fruit, plus natural pectin and acid that help the jam set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, in concentrated form, helps preserve it and firm its set.
The step that matters
Preserve quickly after adding the sugar. Jam sets when pectin, sugar and acid are concentrated by boiling. Prolonged cooking darkens the fruit and breaks down pectin, so the boil should be brisk and the jam should not be cooked longer than needed to become clear and set.
“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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