Why it works: Gooseberry and sugar work together. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 131 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Gooseberry Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pulp
Press the gooseberries through a sieve to extract the juice for jelly.
Weigh the pulp and boil it for 1 hour and 15 minutes until it forms a dry paste.
Make the paste
Off the heat, stir in 1½ cups of sugar for each 4 lbs of fruit until nearly dissolved.
Return to heat and boil the mixture for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Pour into molds or shallow pans and let cool before serving.
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.
-
Gooseberry + sugartop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together131 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
- Gooseberry pulp
- Provides the fruit base and natural pectin that lets the paste set firm.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the paste and, with prolonged boiling, thickens it into a firm, sliceable body.
The step that matters
Stirring constantly during the final boil. Concentrated sugar and fruit scorch easily on the bottom of the pan as the mixture thickens. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and prevents burnt flavor and dark specks.
“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.
You might also like
Gooseberry Pudding22 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.