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
Combine the sugar and water in a pot.
Add the grated quinces and bring to a boil.
Cook for 15 minutes after it starts boiling.
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
- Quinces
- Provide the fruit flavour and body, and their natural pectin helps the mixture thicken as it cooks.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the syrup its body and preserving quality.
The step that matters
Cook for 15 minutes after it starts boiling. Timing starts only once the mixture actually boils. Cooking too briefly leaves it thin, while overcooking can make it stick and darken as sugar concentrates.
“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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