Why it works: Currant and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,180 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, creamy. The science ↓
Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the currants
Place the washed currants in a preserving kettle and boil for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often and skimming off any foam.
Add 3/4 pound of sugar for every pound of fruit, or 1 coffee cup of sugar for every pint of mashed fruit.
Boil for an additional 30 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
Jar and seal
Pour the jam into small jars or glasses and seal.
Press a paper cut to fit the glasses onto the fruit, then cover with larger papers brushed with egg white, letting the edges hang over the glass.
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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Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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 fruit, pectin and tartness that give the jam its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it cooks down.
- Raisins
- Optional addition for French-style jam, adding extra fruit flavour and body.
The step that matters
Stirring and skimming during the first boil. Currants release foam as they heat, and stirring prevents the fruit from scorching on the bottom of the kettle. Skimming removes foam that would otherwise cloud the jam and affect its texture.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (currant, sugar):
- Raisinthe original
- Red currantfits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against currant, sugar. 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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