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
Extract the juice
Cover the quinces with cold water and boil slowly for several hours, adding more water as needed.
Place the mixture in a flannel bag and let it drip overnight.
Make the jelly
In the morning, boil the juice for twenty minutes and skim well.
Add ¾ pound of sugar for each pound of juice and boil again until it jellies on the edge.
Finish
Skim again and pour into glasses.
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
- Quinces
- Provide natural pectin and tart flavor, which allow the juice to set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness, helps the juice set, and preserves the jelly.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar until it jellies on the edge. Sugar and pectin set the jelly only at a high enough concentration. Stopping too early leaves the jelly runny, while boiling too long makes it stiff and sticky.
“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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