Why it works: Red currant and sugar 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 ↓
Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit and juice
Remove the tops and tails from the gooseberries.
Prepare 1 quart of red currant juice as for red currant jelly.
Make the jam
Combine the red currant juice and sugar in a preserving pan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Boil for about 5 minutes. Skim the mixture well.
Add the gooseberries. Boil for 30 to 45 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to an earthen pan. Let it sit for 2 days.
Boil the jam again until it looks clear.
Jar and store
Pour the jam into jars. Cover the jars with oiled paper.
Seal the jars with tissue paper brushed with egg white. Store the jars in a dry 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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Red currant + sugartop 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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit body and tartness that form the main bulk of the jam.
- Red currant juice
- Adds natural pectin and acidity that help the jam set.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps it thicken and preserve.
The step that matters
Boil the jam again until it looks clear. Overboiling can scorch the sugar and darken the jam, while underboiling leaves it too loose to set. Watching for clarity signals that the sugar has concentrated and the pectin has been activated.
“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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