Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Preserved Quinces
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the quinces
Peel and core the quinces.
Place them in a kettle and cover with the parings, cores, and enough water.
Cover and boil until tender.
Remove the quinces and strain the liquid.
Make the syrup and finish
For every pint of liquid, add 1 pound of loaf sugar.
Boil for a few minutes and skim off any foam.
Add the quinces back in and boil slowly for 20 minutes or until clear.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 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
- Quinces
- Provide the fruit itself, which softens during boiling and turns clear in the syrup.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the liquid and thickens the syrup, helping preserve the fruit.
The step that matters
Boiling the quinces in the syrup until clear. Boiling too hard can break the fruit apart, while boiling too gently may leave it unevenly cooked. A slow, steady simmer lets sugar penetrate the quinces gradually so they turn clear and hold their shape.
“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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