Why it works: Black currant and sugar work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 393 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Black-Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick the currants from the stalks and bruise them well.
Make the jam
In a large pot, combine the currants and sugar.
Boil for one hour, skimming and stirring constantly.
Pour the jam into pots and cover with brandy papers.
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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Black currant + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together393 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
- Black currants
- Provide the fruit, pectin and tartness that give the jam its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates, helps it set and keeps it preserved.
The step that matters
Boiling with constant stirring and skimming. Sugar and fruit must reach a rolling boil for the right time so the jam thickens. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, and skimming removes foam that would 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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