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 ↓
Plums, Preserved Liquid
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Cut the stalks close and prick the plums in several places.
Place the plums in a saucepan of water.
Heat over medium until ready to boil.
Remove the saucepan from heat.
After 24 hours, return the plums to the same water on low heat with a small amount of verjuice to preserve their color.
Keep the water hot for 3 hours without boiling, stirring occasionally.
When the plums rise to the surface, remove them from the water.
Place the plums in cold water.
Change the cold water frequently until the plums are cold.
Drain the plums.
Make the syrup and cook
Boil the plums in sugar until it reaches a syrupy consistency. Add a little water as needed.
Skim the syrup and pour it into a pan.
For the next two days, drain off the syrup. Increase the boiling each day.
On the third day, boil the plums with the syrup. Keep them covered. Increase the heat until it reaches the desired consistency.
On the fourth day, repeat boiling the plums with the syrup. Keep them covered. Increase the heat until it reaches the desired consistency.
Pot and rest
Transfer the preserve into pots.
Place the pots in a warm area for two days.
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
What each ingredient does
- Green, firm plums
- Firm, underripe fruit holds its shape through repeated cooking and soaking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it thickens, builds the syrup that preserves it.
- Verjuice
- Its acidity helps the plums keep their color during cooking.
The step that matters
Keeping the water below a boil. Holding the water hot without boiling softens the plums gradually, so the skins stay intact instead of bursting and the fruit stays whole.
“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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