Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Purple Plums Preserved
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Layer the plums and sugar in a clean stone jar.
Cook
Cover the jar and place it in a kettle of water over heat.
Let it simmer in boiling water all day.
Add water as needed.
If fermentation occurs, repeat the process.
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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Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 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
- Plums
- Supply the fruit, flavor and body of the finished preserve.
- Sugar
- Draws water out of the fruit and sweetens it, helping to preserve it.
The step that matters
Keeping the jar simmering all day. Steady heat and topping up the water keep the jar hot for the whole cooking period. If the temperature drops, microbes that cause spoilage may survive and ferment the fruit.
“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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