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Apple and Plum Chutney

A preserved fruit mixture of apples, plums, onions, sugar, and spices simmered in vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and plum match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 404 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Apple and Plum Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Stone the plums and chop all the fruit finely.

Cook

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Simmer the mixture for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

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 + plumtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

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

  3. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

  5. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide bulk and pectin, which helps the chutney thicken as it cooks.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the chutney turn dark and glossy as it reduces.
Onions
Add savoury body and soften into the mixture during the long simmer.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the chutney and balances the sweetness.
Sultanas
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness as they plump in the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Simmer the mixture for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. A long, gentle simmer evaporates excess liquid so the chutney thickens. Stirring prevents the sugars and fruit from scorching on the base of the pot.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, plum, sugar, mustard, ginger, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Radishfits better
  3. Horseradishfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, plum, sugar, mustard, ginger, pepper, vinegar. 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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