Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Dried Fruits
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the skins from the plums using a silver knife and prick them all over.
Make a strong syrup and scald the plums in it.
Let the plums sit in the syrup for 2 to 3 days.
Scald the plums again and let them sit for another 2 days.
On the third scalding, add a little more sugar and boil the plums until they look clear.
Remove the plums with a slotted spoon and lay them on a sieve to dry in a cool oven or near the fire.
Once dry, pack the plums in boxes with paper between each layer.
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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Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 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
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