chloride ions in salt, so it takes a larger mass
of sugar to do the same job of preserving. The
usual proportion by weight of added sugar to
fruit is about 55 to 45, with sugar accounting
for nearly two-thirds of the final cooked
mixture. Of course sugar preserves are very
sweet, and this is a large part of their appeal.
But they also develop an intriguing
consistency otherwise found only in meat
jellies — a firm yet moist solidity that can
range from stiff and chewy to quiveringly
tender. And they can delight the eye with a
crystalline clarity: in the 16th century,
Nostradamus described a quince jelly whose
color “is so diaphanous that it resembles an
oriental ruby.” These remarkable qualities
arise from the nature of pectin, one of the
components of the plant cell wall, and its
fortuitous interaction with the fruit’s acids
and the cook’s added sugar.
The Evolution of Sugar Preserves The