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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and cut quinces into small pieces, coring but not peeling them.
In a pot, combine quinces, sugar, and water.
Cook and set
Boil slowly for 2 hours, stirring and mashing until fine.
Strain the mixture through a colander.
Pour into glasses or bowls to set.
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
- Quinces
- Provide the fruit body and natural pectin that help the marmalade thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps the mixture thicken and keep as a preserve.
The step that matters
Boil slowly for 2 hours, stirring and mashing until fine. Long slow cooking softens the quince and drives off water so the mixture thickens. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, which would add a burnt 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.
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