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
Boil the quinces until soft.
Once cool, pass them through a colander.
Add ½ pound of sugar to 1 pint of the pulp.
Boil the mixture until it reaches a jelly consistency.
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 pectin and fruit pulp that give the marmalade its body and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pulp and helps it thicken into a jelly-like set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil until jelly consistency. Boiling drives off water and concentrates the sugar and pectin so the mixture sets when cool. Undercooking leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and sticky.
“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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