Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Rhubarb Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and cut the rhubarb into ½ inch pieces.
Place the rhubarb in a preserving pan with 1 cup of water.
Extract the juice
Cook over low heat until the rhubarb is soft and the juice is extracted.
Pour the mixture into a jelly bag and let it drip overnight.
Make the jelly
Measure the juice and add 1 lb of sugar and 2 teaspoons of alum for each large cup of juice.
Stir the mixture until it boils, then let it boil for 10 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 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
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart flavour and the juice that becomes the jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once boiled with the juice, helps the mixture set.
- Alum
- Acts as a firming agent that helps the jelly hold its shape.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar. Boiling concentrates the juice and sugar so the mixture can gel as it cools. A boil that is too short leaves the jelly runny, while overcooking can darken its colour and make it stiff.
“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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