Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jam
Combine strawberries and red currant juice in a porcelain kettle.
Boil the mixture, add sugar, bring to a boil again, skimming off foam.
Jar and store
Pour jam into jars, cover with brandied paper, store in a cool place.
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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Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and bulk of the jam.
- Red currant juice
- Adds acidity and natural pectin to help the jam set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep well.
The step that matters
Skimming off foam while boiling. Foam rises as the fruit cooks and can make the jam cloudy or give it an off flavour. Removing it keeps the jam clear and fresh-tasting.
“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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