Why it works: Plum and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Brandied Green-gage Plums
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Choose sound, not quite ripe green-gage plums.
Wash and dry the plums.
Wash and drain plenty of peach or vine leaves.
Steam the plums
In a preserving kettle, place a layer of leaves three deep.
Weigh the plums and add a piece of alum for each pound.
Layer the plums and leaves in the kettle, sprinkling pulverized alum among them.
Cover the last layer of plums with three layers of leaves.
Pour just enough cold water to cover the plums.
Cover the kettle with a clean towel and a tight lid to keep in steam.
Place the kettle on the back of the stove to heat gradually and steam for two hours.
Do not allow the plums to boil; they should remain firm.
Once steamed, drain and cool the plums.
Place the plums in wide-mouthed glass jars.
Make the syrup and seal
For the syrup, combine ½ pound sugar and ½ pint water for each pound of plums in a preserving kettle.
Boil and skim the syrup until clear, then cool it.
Add an equal measure of brandy to the cooled syrup.
When both plums and syrup are cold, fill the jars with syrup, then cork and seal them airtight.
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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Plum + peachtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Peach + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together94 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Plum + brandytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together168 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together339 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Plum + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together124 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green-gage plums
- Provide the fruit, whose firm flesh holds its shape during gentle steaming.
- Alum
- Firms the plum flesh so it stays intact rather than softening during steaming.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit in the jars.
- French brandy
- Adds alcohol that helps preserve the fruit and contributes aroma to the syrup.
The step that matters
Keep the plums below a boil. Gentle, slow steaming keeps the flesh firm; boiling would break down the plum structure and leave them soft and ragged.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peach, corn, sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peach, corn, sugar, brandy. 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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