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 ↓
To Make Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick the strawberries clean.
Pound the sugar until fine.
Cook the jam
Combine strawberries, sugar, and currant juice in a pot.
Boil on high heat for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam.
Pot and seal
Pour the hot jam into pots.
Cover with brandy paper and tie securely.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor, bulk, and the pectin-bearing body of the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep.
- Currant juice
- Adds tartness and acidity that balances sweetness and supports setting.
The step that matters
Boiling on high heat while skimming foam. The jam must reach a full boil long enough for the sugar and fruit to thicken and set. Skimming removes foam so the finished jam looks clear and tastes clean.
“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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