Why it works: Medlar and sugar work together. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Medlar Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Simmer ripe medlars in water, covering them by ½ inch.
Strain the fruit through a jelly bag; repeat if not clear.
Make the jelly
Add 1 pound of sugar for every pint of juice.
Boil rapidly, skimming constantly.
Once slightly cooled, pour the jelly into glasses or molds.
Boil until the jelly sets.
Cool and serve
Let cool before serving.
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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Medlar + sugartop 35% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4 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
- Ripe medlars
- Provide the fruit flavor and the juice that becomes the jelly.
- Good loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the juice thicken into a set jelly.
The step that matters
Boil until the jelly sets. Sugar and fruit pectin must reach the right concentration to gel. Stopping too early leaves a runny jelly, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dull in 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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