Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Weigh the oranges and cut them in halves or quarters.
Remove the peel from each half or quarter.
Take out the pips and skin, then press the fruit through a fine sieve.
Soak the peel overnight in slightly salted water.
The next day, boil the peel in cold water, changing the water frequently until soft.
Drain the peel, then cut it into shreds or long strips.
Combine the peel and strained pulp in a pot with ½ pint of water for each pound of fruit.
Add 1 pound of sugar for each pound of fruit and a little grated lemon peel.
Boil until thick and clear.
Transfer to well-covered jars and let it sit for a few months before using.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
More orange marmalade recipes
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