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Dessert

Rhubarb Jam

A sweet preserve made from sliced rhubarb, sugar, and lemon rind.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Rhubarb and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 546 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wipe the rhubarb dry.

  2. Remove the string or peel.

  3. Weigh the rhubarb.

  4. Place the rhubarb in a preserving pan with the sugar.

  5. Mince the lemon rind finely and add it to the pan.

Cook the jam

  1. Place the pan by the side of the fire.

  2. Stir to prevent burning.

  3. Move the pan over the fire.

  4. Let it boil.

  5. Keep stirring.

  6. Skim the jam with a wooden or silver spoon.

Pot and cover

  1. Pour the jam into pots.

  2. Cover with oiled and egged papers.

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. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,852 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the main body and tart flavour of the jam.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set as it thickens and reduces.
Lemon rind
Adds aroma and a bright citrus note that balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Keep stirring once the jam is over the fire. Sugar and fruit settle on the base of the pan and scorch easily when heated, which gives a burnt taste. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the mixture from sticking while it boils.

Swap the rhubarb

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Rhubarbthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon. 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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