Why it works: Peach and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 466 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Peach Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Peel and stone the peaches.
Mash the peaches in a preserving pan over heat until hot.
Rub the mashed peaches through a sieve.
Make the jam
Add the same weight of sugar as the peach pulp.
Blanch and pound the bitter almonds, then add to the mixture.
Boil for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring and skimming well.
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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Peach + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe peaches
- Provide the fruit pulp that forms the body and flavour of the jam.
- Pounded loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a thick, spreadable texture.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a distinctive almond aroma that complements the peach flavour.
The step that matters
Boiling and skimming. Sugar and fruit must reach a rolling boil for the pectin and acid in the fruit to set the jam. Stirring prevents scorching on the base of the pan, and skimming removes foam that would otherwise cloud the jam and affect its texture.
“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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