Why it works: Black currant and sugar work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 393 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Black Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the black currants and remove any stems.
In a pot, combine the black currants and sugar.
Make and jar the jelly
Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally.
Pour the jelly into sterilized jars and seal.
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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Black currant + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together393 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
- Black currants
- Provide the fruit, pectin and acidity that give the jelly its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it thicken and set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cooking until the mixture thickens. Sugar and fruit pectin set only at the right concentration. Stop too early and the jelly stays runny; cook too long and it can become stiff or caramelised.
“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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