Why it works: Clove and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,958 recipes. Both carry cis-isoeugenol, which smells clove, spicy. The science ↓
Isinglass Jelly, Etc
Ingredients
Directions
Combine isinglass and cloves in a quart of water.
Boil until reduced to a pint.
Strain the mixture over a pound of loaf sugar.
Once cooled, add a little wine 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.
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.
-
Clove + winetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,958 recipes
Shared aroma: cis-isoeugenol (clove, spicy).
-
Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Clove and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass
- Sets the liquid into a firm, clear jelly as it cools.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the jelly.
- Wine
- Adds flavour and aroma to the finished jelly.
The step that matters
Boil until reduced to a pint. Boiling concentrates the isinglass and cloves in the liquid. If the liquid is not reduced enough, the jelly may fail to set firmly once it cools.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Rosemaryfits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
More isinglass jelly recipes
You might also like
Clove Cake53 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.