Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Currant Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stalk and heat the red currants as for jelly.
Pour off three parts of the juice for preserves.
Press the remainder with the pulp through a fine sieve.
Make the paste
Boil the mixture briskly, stirring constantly, until it forms a dry paste.
For each pound of the mixture, add 7 ounces of pounded sugar.
Boil the whole for 25 to 30 minutes, ensuring it does not burn.
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.
-
Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red currants
- Provide the tart fruit pulp and natural pectin that help the paste set and hold its shape.
- Pounded sugar
- Adds sweetness and, as it concentrates, helps thicken the paste and preserve it.
The step that matters
Boiling the mixture until it forms a dry paste. As water evaporates and the sugar and fruit concentrate, the mixture thickens quickly and can scorch on the base of the pan. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and prevents burning.
“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.
You might also like
Green Corn Pudding64 recipes
Cornmeal mush12 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.