Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Currant Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Stalk and heat the red currants as for jelly.
Pour off three parts of the juice for another preserve.
Press the remaining juice and pulp through a fine sieve.
Make the paste
Boil the mixture briskly, stirring constantly, until it forms a dry paste.
For each pound of the paste, add 7 ounces of pounded sugar.
Boil the mixture for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, ensuring it does not burn.
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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Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red currants
- Their natural pectin and acidity help the juice thicken and set into a firm paste.
- Pounded sugar
- Adds sweetness and, by binding water, helps the paste thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boil the paste without letting it burn. As the mixture thickens and sugar concentrates, it scorches easily on the bottom of the pan. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the paste from taking on a burnt flavour.
“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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