Why it works: Guava and sugar work together. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 115 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Guava Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the guavas
Cut the ends off the guavas and slice them.
Add a little water and cook until soft.
Strain the mixture through a colander to remove seeds.
Make the marmalade
Add 50% to 100% as much sugar as the guava pulp.
Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens.
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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Guava + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together115 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
- Guavas
- Provide the fruit pulp, flavor, and natural pectin that help the marmalade set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the mixture thicken and set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Low heat with regular stirring keeps the sugar and fruit from scorching on the bottom of the pan while moisture evaporates. Thickening happens as sugar concentrates and pectin gels, so stopping too early leaves a runny result.
“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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