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
Boil the quince in minimal water until soft enough to break easily.
Pour off all the water and rub the quince with a spoon until smooth.
Add the brown sugar and boil for 20 minutes, stirring often.
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
- Quince
- Provides the fruit pulp and natural pectin that give the jam its body and set.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps thicken the jam while adding caramel-like depth.
The step that matters
Boiling with the sugar for 20 minutes. Sugar and boiling concentrate the fruit and drive off water, so the jam thickens. Stirring often prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan, which would give a burnt taste.
“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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