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Cereals with Figs

A hot cereal made from cracked wheat cooked with water and topped with sliced figs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Wheat and fig share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 70 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cereals with Figs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash figs thoroughly.

  2. Steam and slice figs.

  3. Measure 1 cup cracked wheat or wheatlet and place it in a double boiler or suitable dish.

Cook the cereal

  1. Pour 4-5 cups cold water over the grain, stirring well.

  2. Cover and cook until done, stirring after an hour.

  3. Add boiling water if the mixture seems too thick.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cooked, let the cereal cool slightly.

  2. Stir in the sliced figs before serving.

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. Wheat + figtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together70 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

Cracked wheat or wheatlet
Provides the main bulk and chewy, porridge-like texture as it absorbs water and softens.
Cold water
Hydrates the grain so it swells and softens during slow cooking.
Figs
Add natural sweetness, soft texture, and a fruity flavour to the finished cereal.

The step that matters

Adding the water and stirring during cooking. Cracked wheat thickens as its starch gelatinises and absorbs liquid. Stirring well at the start prevents lumps and sticking, and stirring again partway through keeps the grain from settling and scorching on the base of the pan.

“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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