Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the grapes until soft.
Strain the grapes through a sieve.
Measure the same amount of sugar as the strained grape juice.
Cook the mixture until it thickens and will harden.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grapes
- Provide the fruit, pectin and acidity that give the jam its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with heat, helps the juice thicken and set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture until it thickens. Grape jam sets when enough sugar and water are cooked off and pectin gels as the mixture cools. Undercooking leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and dark.
“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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