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 ↓
To Can Quinces
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the quinces thinly, like apple slices.
In a pot, combine sugar and water; bring to a boil.
Prepare jars by placing them in a pan of boiling water.
Cook and fill
Add the sliced quinces to the boiling syrup.
Once the quinces are tender, fill the jars with the fruit and syrup, ensuring the syrup overflows.
Seal the jars tightly as quickly as possible.
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
- Quince
- Provides the fruit itself, which turns tender and fragrant as it cooks in the syrup.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, dissolved in the syrup, helps preserve its texture and flavor.
The step that matters
Seal the jars tightly as quickly as possible. Sealing promptly while the fruit and syrup are still hot lets a vacuum form as the contents cool. Syrup that overflows the jar keeps the fruit covered and limits the air it is exposed to.
“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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