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 ↓
Jam-making
Ingredients
Directions
Gather fruit on a dry day, preferably in the morning sun.
Preserve the fruit on the same day it is gathered.
Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture in a clean porcelain-lined saucepan.
Add sugar to the fruit and heat gently, skimming off any froth that rises.
Boil quickly while stirring constantly until the syrup solidifies when dropped on a cold surface.
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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