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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Wash and cut the quinces, placing them in a pan.
Cover with water and boil until tender.
Remove the cores and return them to the water, boiling for 30 minutes.
Strain through a colander and measure the liquid.
Make the jam
Weigh the pulp and add 1 lb of sugar for each 1 lb of pulp.
Add 1 lb of sugar for each quart of liquid.
Boil all together until the color is pleasing.
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 fruit, pectin and tart flavor that give the jam its body and taste.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boil all together until the color is pleasing. Sugar and fruit concentrate as water evaporates, so the jam thickens and darkens over time. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while over-boiling can scorch the sugar and turn it bitter.
“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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