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 Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the quinces
Cut quinces into pieces and boil until soft.
Pass the cooked quinces through a sieve.
Cook and set
Boil the sugar and quinces together for 30 minutes.
Pour the mixture into fancy forms and allow to cool.
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 pectin and fruit body that help the paste set firm when cooled.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once concentrated by boiling, helps the paste set and keep.
The step that matters
Boil the sugar and quinces together for 30 minutes. Long boiling evaporates water and concentrates the sugar and quince pectin. Stopping early leaves the paste soft and sticky instead of firm enough to unmould and slice.
“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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