Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Rhubarb Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Make the marmalade
Combine rhubarb, oranges, lemon, and sugar in a pot.
Cook over medium heat until thick.
Prepare the clear jelly
For clear jelly, wash perfect fruit and place in a porcelain-lined kettle with enough water to cover.
Cook slowly until the fruit is tender, then strain through a flannel bag.
Measure the juice and use 1 cup less sugar than juice.
Warm the sugar in the oven without burning it.
Cook and set
Boil the juice for 20 minutes, then add the hot sugar and stir until dissolved.
Skim thoroughly and cook for about 10 minutes, or until it jellies on a cold plate.
Pour into glasses, let settle for 24 hours, then cover with melted paraffin.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Rhubarb + orangetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together299 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together546 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart flavour and bulk that the marmalade is built on.
- Oranges
- Add sweet-bitter aroma and pectin from the pulp and rind, helping the mixture set.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and pectin, which help the mixture thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens and, with acid and pectin, helps the mixture thicken and set.
The step that matters
Cook until it jellies on a cold plate. Setting depends on sugar, acid and pectin reaching the right concentration. Undercooking leaves the mixture runny, while overcooking makes it stiff and dull. A cold-plate test shows when the set point has been reached.
Swap the rhubarb
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (orange, lemon, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Peppermintfits about as well
- Rhubarbthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against orange, lemon, sugar. 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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