Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Gooseberry, or Plum Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Stew the berries in a little water.
Press the mixture through a coarse sieve or colander.
Cook and jar
Return the pulped fruit to the kettle and add the sugar.
Boil for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour into jars or bowls and cover as directed for other jams.
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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Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 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
- Gooseberries or plums
- Supplies the fruit flavour, pectin and acid that help the jam thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it set and keep.
The step that matters
Boiling the pulp with sugar. The boil must be long and constant enough to concentrate the sugar and activate the fruit's pectin so the jam sets. Constant stirring prevents the sugar-rich pulp from scorching on the bottom of the kettle.
“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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