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Dessert

Rhubarb Marmalade

A preserve made from finely chopped rhubarb, crystallized ginger, lemons, almonds, and sugar, boiled for one hour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Rhubarb Marmalade

Why it works: Rhubarb and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 117 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Rhubarb Marmalade

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the rhubarb very finely.

  2. Finely chop the crystallized ginger and lemons.

  3. Chop the almonds.

  4. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Rest and cook

  1. Let the mixture sit overnight.

  2. Boil the mixture for one hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Rhubarb + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together117 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Rhubarb + gingertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the bulk and tart flavour that forms the body of the marmalade.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it concentrates during boiling, helps the marmalade thicken.
Lemons
Add acidity and aroma, and their peel and pith supply pectin to help the marmalade set.
Crystallized ginger
Adds spicy sweetness and a warm aroma.
Almonds
Add crunch and a nutty flavour that contrasts with the soft fruit.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture for one hour. Thick sugar mixtures can scorch on the base of the pan, so keep the heat gentle and stir. Boiling reduces the water and concentrates the sugar, while pectin from the lemons and rhubarb helps the marmalade set as it thickens.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, lemon, almond, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, lemon, almond, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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