Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick over, wash, and remove grapes from stems.
Weigh the grapes to estimate the amount of sugar required.
Press the pulp from the skins and reserve the skins.
Make the jam
Heat the pulp and cook gently until very soft.
Press through a sieve to remove seeds.
Add the reserved skins to the pulp and cook for 5 minutes.
Add sugar and cook gently until thick, about 10 minutes.
Jar
Pour into sterile glasses and seal.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grapes
- Provide the pulp, skins and juice that form the jam's body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it thickens, helps it set and keep.
The step that matters
Cooking until thick after adding the sugar. Sugar and the fruit's natural pectin set the jam as water evaporates. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and prone to scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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