Why it works: Pear and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,079 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Fear-jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pears
Peel, quarter, and core the pears.
Weigh the pears and pack them closely into an earthen jar.
Place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water and let it remain until the fruit is soft enough to break apart.
Make the syrup
For each pound of sugar, combine it with 1 pint of water in a pot over heat.
Skim the mixture until it forms a clear syrup.
Cook and store
Add the pears to the syrup and stir frequently until it boils.
Once boiling, stir constantly and boil for 20 minutes.
Partly cool the jam and store it as directed.
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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Pear + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,079 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
- Pears
- Provide the fruit body and flavor that form the jam's base.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Stir constantly once boiling. Sugar and fruit can scorch on the bottom of the pot before the jam thickens, giving a burnt taste. Constant stirring spreads the heat and keeps the mixture from sticking.
“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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