Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Weigh the oranges before peeling.
Peel half the oranges and grate the peel.
Add the grated peel to the sugar.
Open the oranges, removing all seeds and white strings.
Cook the jam
Combine the orange segments, sugar, and peel in a pot with a little water.
Boil for twenty minutes.
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Oranges
- Provide the fruit, pectin-rich peel, and flavor that form the jam's body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and preserve as it cooks.
The step that matters
Removing all seeds and white strings. Seeds and white pith carry bitterness and tough texture into the jam. Removing them keeps the finished jam smooth and pleasantly flavored.
“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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