Why it works: Sugar and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,483 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the fruit with sugar until it reaches a jelly-like consistency.
To test, place a small amount on a cold plate; it should set and not run.
Once done, pour the jam into clean, dry jars.
If storing for a long time, lightly oil the surface with olive or salad oil to prevent crusting.
Cover jars to keep out dust, but airtight sealing is not necessary.
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 + olivetop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,483 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and olive barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,483 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
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