Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pie Plant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Cut the pie plant into pieces.
Add a little water and boil until tender, being careful not to scorch it.
Strain the mixture through a flannel bag without squeezing.
Make the jelly
Add lemons to taste.
For every 3 pints of juice, add 2 pounds of sugar.
Boil until it jellies nicely.
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.
-
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Pie plant
- Provides the tart flavour and the pectin-rich juice that the jelly is made from.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set into a firm gel as it boils.
- Lemons
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and supports gel formation.
The step that matters
Boil until it jellies nicely. Boiling must drive off enough water to concentrate the sugar and pectin. Stopping too early leaves a runny jelly, while boiling too long can make it stiff or dull in flavour.
“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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.