Why it works: Sugar and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Gooseberry and Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Remove stems and tails from gooseberries.
Place them in a preserving pan and let sit by the fire to extract juice.
Cook the jam
Bring mixture to a boil; boil for 10 minutes.
Gradually add sugar and currant juice.
Boil until jam sets when tested on a cold plate, removing any scum that rises.
Stir well towards the end of the boiling process.
Jar and store
Pour into jars, cover tightly, and store in a cool, dry place.
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 + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Red hairy gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit body, pectin and tart flavour that give the jam its structure.
- Preserving sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it cooks.
- Currant juice
- Adds extra tartness and fruity flavour, with natural pectin to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Boil until the jam sets. Jam sets when enough water evaporates and pectin, sugar and acid form a gel. Stopping too early leaves runny jam, while overcooking can make it stiff and dull in flavour. Testing on a cold plate shows when it is ready.
“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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