Why it works: Sugar and red currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Select ripe gooseberries, avoiding overly soft ones.
Weigh the gooseberries and cut off the tops and tails with scissors.
In a preserving pan, combine the gooseberries and red currant juice.
Cook the jam
Boil the mixture quickly, stirring well until the gooseberries begin to break.
Add the sugar and simmer until the jam becomes firm, skimming and stirring to prevent burning.
Boil for about 1 hour with the currant juice and an additional 30 minutes with the sugar.
Pot and seal
Pour the jam into small pots and let it cool completely.
Cover the pots with oiled and egged papers.
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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Sugar + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red hairy gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit body, pectin and tartness that give the jam its structure and flavour.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it cooks down, helps it set firm and keeps it preserved.
- Red currant juice
- Adds natural pectin and acidity that help the jam set and brighten its flavour.
The step that matters
Simmering with the sugar until firm. Sugar added to fruit must be stirred and skimmed while simmering, because the mixture can scorch on the base of the pan. Cooking long enough lets the jam thicken and set as water evaporates and pectin gels.
“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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