Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the brown sugar in the vinegar in a large pot.
Add the currants, cinnamon, and cloves to the pot.
Boil the mixture steadily for one hour.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Currant + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together693 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Currant + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,038 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Currants
- Provide the main fruit body and pectin that help the jam thicken as it cooks.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and bulk, and helps preserve the jam and set its texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps balance the sweetness.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture steadily for one hour. A steady boil evaporates water and concentrates the sugar and fruit pectin so the jam thickens. A weak simmer may leave it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff or scorch on the bottom of the pot.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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