Name: Citron and Quince Preserves
Ingredients: citron, cut into 1-inch pieces; water; quince, washed, peeled, quartered, cored, and halved; white sugar

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 ↓

Citron and Quince Preserves

Ingredients

citron, cut into 1-inch pieces
water
quince, washed, peeled, quartered, cored, and halved
white sugar

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the citron

Boil the citron pieces in strong alum water for 30 minutes, then drain them.
Boil the citron pieces in fresh water until tender and color changes.

Prepare the quince

Boil the quince cores and parings in water to cover for 1.5 hours.
Remove the quince cores and parings.
Add the prepared quince to the liquid.
Boil until the quince begins to soften.

Combine and sweeten

Add the citron and ¾ pound of sugar for every pound of fruit.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Citron: Provides the bulk of the fruit and its distinctive flavor and aroma in the preserves.
Quince: Adds natural pectin, which helps the preserves set, and a fragrant flavor.
White sugar: Adds sweetness and helps preserve the fruit by drawing out water.

“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.