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 fruit
Quarter the ripe Japanese quinces, removing seeds but leaving the cores and skin intact.
Place the quinces in a porcelain kettle and add just enough water to cover them.
Boil until the quinces are perfectly soft, then strain through a jelly bag without squeezing.
Make the jelly
Measure equal parts of the juice and granulated sugar.
Boil the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes, skimming until perfectly clear.
Fill and seal
Fill glasses with the jelly and cover with papers wet in liquor, then screw on the tops and paste papers over the edges.
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
- Japanese quinces
- Provide the fruit pectin and tart flavour that set the jelly.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set to a firm, spreadable texture.
The step that matters
Straining without squeezing. Pressing the bag forces cloudy particles through, which makes the finished jelly cloudy rather than clear. Letting the juice drip on its own keeps it bright.
“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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