Why it works: Sugar and red currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
To Preserve Strawberries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select strawberries that are not too ripe.
Weigh equal quantities of strawberries and sugar.
Sprinkle half the sugar over layers of strawberries and let it stand overnight.
Make the syrup and cook
The next day, make a syrup with the remaining sugar and red currant juice.
Simmer the strawberries in the syrup for 30 minutes.
Finish and store
For longer preservation, add an additional ¼ cup of sugar for every pound of fruit.
Seal the jars and store them in a cool place.
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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Sugar + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Strawberries
- Form the main fruit, which softens and holds its shape during simmering.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and draws water out of the fruit, helping preserve it.
- Red currant juice
- Adds tartness and flavor to the syrup that surrounds the strawberries.
The step that matters
Simmering the strawberries in the syrup. Simmering long enough to thicken the syrup helps the sugar preserve the fruit, while overcooking can break strawberries down into mush and dull their flavor.
“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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