Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the quinces
Stew quinces in enough water to cover them by three parts until tender.
Remove the quinces.
Let them cool.
Press the cooled quinces through a sieve.
Make the paste
Cook the quince puree over a clear fire, stirring constantly until it reduces to a dry paste.
Weigh the fruit.
Mix the fruit with an equal amount of pounded sugar.
Continue stirring the mixture until it forms a large ball that pulls away from the pan.
Press the paste into shallow pans.
Cut and store
Cut the paste into small squares once cooled.
If necessary, dry the squares gently with low heat.
Store the squares in tin cases with parchment paper between layers.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 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
- Quinces
- Provide the fruit pectin and flavour that set and scent the paste.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the paste and helps it thicken and firm as moisture evaporates.
The step that matters
Stirring the mixture until it forms a large ball. Sugar and fruit must be cooked until most water has evaporated and the mass pulls away from the pan. Stopping early leaves a soft paste that won't hold its shape, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and fruit.
“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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