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 ↓
Gooseberry Jam, Red
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the jam
Boil the gooseberries in a pot, stirring well to prevent burning.
Once the berries begin to break, add the sugar.
Continue boiling for 30 minutes or until the jam sets on a plate. If it hasn't set, boil longer.
Jar the jam
Pour the jam into jars and cover tightly.
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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit, pectin and acidity that help the jam thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness, helps the jam set and acts as a preservative.
- Red currants
- Add extra pectin and tartness to support setting.
The step that matters
Testing for set. Pectin and sugar form a gel only once enough water has evaporated and the sugar concentration is high enough. Stopping too early leaves runny jam, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dull in flavour, so check the plate test carefully.
“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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