Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Red Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the currants
Remove currants from stems and weigh them.
Mash the currants slightly in a preserving kettle to prevent sticking.
Cook the jam
Boil the currants for 15 minutes.
Add the sugar and boil rapidly for 10 minutes.
Bottle the jam and seal 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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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 flavor.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly after adding the sugar. Sugar must dissolve and the mixture must reach a hard, rolling boil so the pectin and sugar set the jam. Under-boiling can leave it runny and more prone to spoiling.
“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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