Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Preserve Apricots
Ingredients
Directions
Select apricots that are not quite ripe and remove the stones.
Scald the apricots in a pot over low heat until soft.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apricots to cold water to cool.
Drain the apricots and lay them singly in a preserving pan.
Boil clarified sugar until it reaches a blowing stage.
Pour enough sugar syrup over the apricots to cover them.
Heat the pan and let the apricots boil gently for 2-3 minutes.
Let the apricots sit for four days.
Drain the syrup and boil it until it reaches a strong blowing stage, adding more sugar if needed to cover the apricots.
Once cooled, transfer the apricots to jars.
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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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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