Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the quinces
Wash, wipe, peel, and core the quinces, then cut them into quarters.
Boil the quinces until tender, then drain them in a sieve.
Make the syrup and cook the jam
In a saucepan, boil the cores and peels in a little water to extract flavor.
Strain the water and combine it with the water from boiling the quinces.
Add 1 pound of sugar for every pint of the liquid.
Boil and skim the syrup, then add the quinces and boil until they are tender and clear.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 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
- Yellow quinces
- Supply the fruit and natural pectin that help the jam set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep well.
The step that matters
Boiling the quinces in the syrup until tender and clear. The quinces need enough time in the syrup to soften and absorb sugar, which makes them turn clear. Skimming the syrup removes foam and impurities that would otherwise cloud the jam.
“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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