Name: Fig Sandwiches
Ingredients: ¼ lb figs, finely chopped; ½ cup water; ⅓ cup blanched almonds, finely chopped and pounded to a paste; a little rose water; juice of ½ lemon; lady fingers or bread

Why it works: Fig and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 519 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Fig Sandwiches

Ingredients

¼ lb figs, finely chopped
½ cup water
⅓ cup blanched almonds, finely chopped and pounded to a paste
a little rose water
juice of ½ lemon
lady fingers or bread

Directions

Make the filling

Cook the figs and water in a saucepan until a smooth paste forms.
Mix in the chopped almonds, rose water, and lemon juice.
Allow the mixture to cool.

Assemble

Spread the fig mixture on lady fingers or bread.

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.

Fig + almondtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together519 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Fig + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together374 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Fig + lemontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together763 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs: Provide the sweet, sticky bulk and flavour base of the filling.
Blanched almonds: Add body and a nutty texture that thickens the fig paste when pounded.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the figs.