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 ↓
Gooseberry and Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick and trim the gooseberries.
Add 1 cup of red currant juice for every 3 pounds of berries.
For each pound of berries, add 1 pound of sugar.
Cook and jar
Mash the mixture until fine and reduce it to a pulp.
Cook until thick, then put the jam in jars.
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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit body, pectin and tart flavour that give the jam its base.
- Red currant juice
- Adds extra acidity and fruity tartness that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it cooks down, helps it thicken and keep well.
The step that matters
Cook until thick. Cooking must drive off enough water for the sugar and fruit pectin to set the jam. Undercooked jam stays runny, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and dull the 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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