Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Damson Plum Pkeseryes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Weigh the damson plums and sugar, using equal amounts.
Layer the plums and sugar in a stone crock.
Bake
Place the crock in a 350°F (175°C) oven and cook for three hours.
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 + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 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
- Damson plums
- Provide the fruit body and tart flavor, softening into a thick pulp during slow cooking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and draws out its juices, which combine into a syrup.
The step that matters
Cook the plums for the full three hours. Long, gentle heat breaks down the fruit's cell walls and pectin so the plums soften completely and their juices thicken into syrup. Stopping early leaves firm fruit and a thin, watery liquid.
“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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