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Dessert

Citron Preserves

Preserved citron fruit in sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Citron Preserves

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the skin and soft white inner rind from the citron and cut it into various fancy shapes.

  2. Weigh the citron and use 1 pound of sugar for every pound of citron.

Firm in alum water

  1. Make a strong solution of alum water by dissolving a lump of alum in hot water until it tastes pungent.

  2. Boil the citron rapidly in the alum water for 30 minutes.

  3. Drain the citron and drop it into clear cold water.

  4. Let the citron stand in clear water overnight.

  5. Boil the citron in fresh water until it changes color.

Make the syrup

  1. In another kettle, make the syrup by combining ½ cup water, 2 pounds sugar, a sliced lemon, and a small strip of ginger-root for every pound of fruit.

  2. Boil the syrup slowly to draw out the flavor of the ginger.

Cook in the syrup

  1. Once the fruit is tender and has changed color, drain it thoroughly.

  2. Cook the citron in the syrup until it shines, about 15 minutes.

  3. If the syrup is not thick enough, boil it down, leaving the citron in if it doesn't break apart.

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.

  1. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Citron
Forms the main body of the preserve, and its texture firms or softens with the alum and syrup steps.
Sugar
Sweetens the preserve and, at high concentration, helps preserve the fruit and give it a glossy finish.
Lemon
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet syrup and balances its sugar.
Ginger-root
Contributes a warm, aromatic flavor that is drawn into the syrup.

The step that matters

Firming in the alum water. Alum firms the fruit's tissue by strengthening its pectin, so the citron holds its shape in the syrup. Boiling it rapidly for the full time and then rinsing it well helps it stay firm without becoming harsh-tasting.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, ginger):

  1. Lemonthe original
  2. Orangefits about as well
  3. Limefits less well
  4. Vanillafits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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