Why it works: Fig and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,241 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
To Preserve Figs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the figs
Wipe and cut the figs across the top.
Soak the figs in a strong brine of salt and water for 10 days.
Soften and soak
Boil the figs in water until a pin easily pierces them.
Soak the figs in cold water for 4 days, changing the water daily.
Make the syrup and finish
Clarify the sugar and add the figs while hot.
Heat the figs in the syrup three times.
Boil the figs in the syrup until they look green and clear.
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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Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,241 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Small green figs
- Provide the fruit that is softened, preserved and turned translucent in syrup.
- Loaf sugar
- Forms the syrup that sweetens the figs and preserves them.
The step that matters
Boil the figs in the syrup until they look green and clear. Sugar must penetrate the fruit gradually; boiling too hard or too fast can break the skins or leave the figs cloudy, so heat in stages and watch for clarity.
“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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