Why it works: Sugar and crab work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 407 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells grass, green. The science ↓
Conserve De Verjus
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil a pound of sugar in the same manner as before; when done enough take it off the fire.
Stir it two minutes.
Make the marmalade
Add the marmalade made as follows: take a pound of Siberian crabs; cut off the stalks and put them on the fire in water until done enough, that is, to a marmalade.
Strain and rub them through the tamis.
Squeeze all through but the skins and pippins.
Put the marmalade on the fire to reduce.
Combine and set
When very thick, add it to the syrup, and stir well together until the sugar begins to get white round the edges.
Pour it into a paper mould as before.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Crab | 100g cooked | 97 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + crabtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together407 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (grass, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and, as it cooks and stirs, thickens into a firm, setting mass.
- Siberian crabs
- Provide the fruit flavour and tartness, and their pectin helps the marmalade thicken.
The step that matters
Adding the very thick marmalade to the syrup. If the marmalade is not reduced enough, it adds too much water to the sugar, so the mixture will not set firmly. Stirring until the sugar whitens at the edges shows the sugar is crystallising and the preserve is ready to pour.
“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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