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To Preserve Apples

A method of preserving apples in a ginger and sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,424 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Preserve Apples

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pare and core the apples.

  2. Place them in a stone jar with white ginger and ground sugar; cover and let sit for 48 hours.

Make the syrup

  1. Boil 2 ounces of white ginger with 1 pint of water; strain into a pan.

  2. Add the apples with the syrup and ginger to the pan.

  3. Cook on low heat, skimming off any scum, for 45 minutes.

Jar and seal

  1. Remove the apples with a spoon and place them in a jar.

  2. Pour the syrup over the apples and let cool before sealing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Apple + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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

What each ingredient does

Baking apples
Provide the fruit that softens and holds its shape during cooking and preserving.
Ground loaf sugar
Draws moisture out of the apples and, at high concentration, preserves them while adding sweetness.
White ginger
Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to both the apples and the syrup.

The step that matters

Skimming during the 45-minute cook. Scum rising on the surface contains impurities and foam that can cloud the syrup and spoil its clarity if left in. Keeping the heat low prevents the apples from breaking apart while they cook.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, sugar):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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