Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Steawbeeey Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Boil the rhubarb until tender.
If the rhubarb is too juicy, drain off some of the juice.
Make the jam
Add the strawberries and sweeten with sugar to taste.
Boil the mixture until it thickens.
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 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
- Rhubarb
- Adds tart flavour and body as it cooks down into the jam.
- Strawberries
- Add sweet fruit flavour and colour to the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken by binding up water.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it thickens. Thickening happens as water evaporates and the sugar and fruit pectin set together. Stopping too early leaves the jam runny, while boiling too long can scorch it and make it overly stiff.
“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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