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Rhubarb and Pineapple Jam

A jam made from pineapple, rhubarb, sugar, citrus rind and juice, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Rhubarb and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 117 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Rhubarb and Pineapple Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jam

  1. In a large pot, combine the pineapple, rhubarb, and lemon or orange rind and juice.

  2. Stew the fruit for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring gently.

  3. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Fill and seal

  1. Let the mixture cool for 30 minutes before filling jars.

  2. Seal the jars tightly.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Rhubarb + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together117 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Pineapple + rhubarbtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together56 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pineapple + almondtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together428 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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 structure that sugar balances in the jam.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set as it thickens.
Pineapple
Adds sweetness and fruity body to the jam.
Lemon or orange
Adds acidity and aroma from the rind and juice.

The step that matters

Dissolving the sugar fully. Sugar that is not fully dissolved can leave grainy crystals in the jam. Stirring gently until the sugar disappears helps the jam cook to an even, smooth texture.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, sugar, lemon, almond):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, sugar, lemon, almond. 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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