Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Honey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and grate the quinces.
Make the honey
In a pot, combine boiling water and sugar, and stir over heat until the sugar dissolves.
Add the grated quinces and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
Finish
Pour the mixture into glasses.
Let it cool; it should resemble the color and consistency of honey.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 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
- Quinces
- Provide natural pectin, which helps the mixture thicken and set as it cooks and cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and, as it concentrates, gives the thick, syrupy body of honey.
The step that matters
Cook the quinces for 15 to 20 minutes. Cooking drives off water and concentrates the sugar and quince pectin. Stopping too early leaves the mixture thin, while overcooking can make it too stiff once it cools.
“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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