Why it works: Sugar and pear are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,079 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Preserved Pears
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pears
Select smooth, sweet pears that won't break when cooked.
Pare, halve, and remove the cores, dropping them into cold water to prevent browning.
Make and jar the preserves
In a preserving kettle, combine 4 cups of granulated sugar with just enough water to moisten it.
Heat the mixture, then add 2 quarts of pears.
Cook slowly for several hours until the syrup thickens.
Pour the preserves into glass jars and seal.
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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Sugar + peartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,079 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
- Pears
- Provide the fruit body and texture; firm, smooth pears hold their shape during long cooking.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves and concentrates, thickens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit.
The step that matters
Cook slowly until the syrup thickens. Sugar syrup thickens as water evaporates and sugar concentrates. Cooking too briefly leaves the preserves thin and runny, while heat that is too high can scorch the sugar and pears on the bottom of the kettle.
“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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