Why it works: Sugar and pine work together. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 309 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare off the rinds and remove any dark specks from the pines.
Grate or slice the pines into thin pieces, then pound them in a mortar.
Make the marmalade
Weigh the prepared fruit, then heat and boil it gently for 10 minutes.
Gradually stir in the sugar until fully combined.
Boil until the mixture thickens and becomes transparent, about 15 minutes for a small batch.
Avoid placing the preserving pan flat on the fire to prevent caramelization.
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 + pinetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together309 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapple (in the method)
- Provides the fruit body and natural flavour that forms the marmalade.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and helps it thicken and turn transparent as it boils.
The step that matters
Avoid placing the preserving pan flat on the fire. Direct contact with the flame can overheat the base, scorching sugar and fruit before the mixture has thickened, causing caramelization and a burnt taste.
“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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