Why it works: Sugar and quince 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 Honey
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine 3 lbs of sugar and 2 quarts of water.
Boil the mixture for 35 minutes.
Add 1 pint of grated quince and continue to boil for an additional 20 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.
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 + quincetop 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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the honey and, as water evaporates during boiling, thickens it into a syrup.
- Quince
- Adds fruit flavor and aroma, and its natural pectin helps the syrup set.
The step that matters
Boiling the quince mixture. Sugar syrup concentrates as water evaporates, so boiling too long can over-thicken it or scorch the sugar. Watch the pot and keep the heat steady so the honey reaches the right consistency without 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.
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