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 ↓
Fine Ehubaeb Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rhubarb
On a dry day, clean the rhubarb stalks without washing them.
Peel off the skin and coarse fibers, then slice the stalks thin.
Make the jam
In a pan, combine the rhubarb with a quarter of the sugar and let it stand until the sugar dissolves.
Boil the mixture slowly until it becomes a smooth pulp.
Remove from heat and gradually stir in the remaining sugar until melted.
Boil quickly until the jam thickens and the bottom of the pan is visible when stirred.
Cooking time will vary from 1.5 to 2.25 hours depending on the rhubarb used.
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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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
- Forms the bulk of the jam and breaks down into a smooth pulp when simmered.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken as it cooks down.
The step that matters
Boil quickly until the jam thickens. Sugar added off the heat must dissolve fully before the final boil. Boiling until the pan bottom shows when stirred signals that enough water has evaporated for the jam to set as it cools.
“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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