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 ↓
Quince Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Wash the quinces and cut them into quarters, leaving the peels and cores intact.
In a large pot, combine the quinces and water. Cover and boil until soft.
Pour the mixture into a jelly bag without pressing and let it drain into an earthen dish overnight.
Make the jelly
Measure the juice and for every pint, add 1 pound of sugar to the syrup.
Heat the syrup in a preserving kettle, stir in the sugar until dissolved, and boil for a few moments.
Pour the hot jelly into molds and let it cool.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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
- Quince
- Provides natural pectin and acid so the juice sets into a firm jelly.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set by binding water and firming the gel.
The step that matters
Draining the juice without pressing the jelly bag. Squeezing the bag forces cloudy solids and fine pulp into the juice, which makes the jelly murky and can weaken clarity. Letting gravity drain it slowly keeps the jelly clear.
“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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