Why it works: Sugar and red currant 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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Select ripe, firm gooseberries gathered in dry weather.
Weigh the gooseberries and cut off the tops and tails with scissors.
Make the jam
In a preserving pan, combine the gooseberries and red currant juice.
Boil the mixture quickly, stirring well until the gooseberries begin to break.
Add the sugar and simmer, stirring and skimming to prevent burning, until the jam is firm.
Boil for about 1 hour with the currant juice and an additional 30 to 45 minutes with the sugar.
Pot and cover
Pour the jam into small pots, let it cool completely, then cover with oiled and egged paper.
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 + red curranttop 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
- Red hairy gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit body, pectin and tart flavour that the jam is built around.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with the fruit, helps it set firm as it cooks down.
- Red currant juice
- Adds extra acidity and natural pectin to help the jam set and balance sweetness.
The step that matters
Simmering after adding the sugar. Sugar thickens the jam and can scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred. Stirring and skimming keep it from burning and let it reach a firm set.
“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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