Why it works: Sugar and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Stew the gooseberries in a little water.
Press through a coarse sieve and return to the kettle.
Make the jam
Add 3¾ pounds of sugar for every 6 pounds of pulped gooseberries.
Boil for 45 minutes, stirring constantly.
Cook until a little jelly forms when cooled on a saucer.
Pour into jars or bowls and cover as directed.
Whole berry variation
For whole berries, dissolve sugar in water, add berries, and cook until syrup thickens around them.
Do not stir; gently shake the kettle occasionally to prevent burning.
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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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit, pectin and tartness that give the jam its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with the fruit's pectin and acid, helps it set into a gel.
The step that matters
Judging the set with a saucer test. Jam thickens as water evaporates and sugar concentrates, but it only sets once pectin and acid form a gel on cooling. Testing a cooled spoonful on a saucer shows whether it will set before the pot is overcooked and stiff.
“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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