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Dessert

Rhubarb and Fig Jam

A jam made from rhubarb, dried figs, sugar, lemon, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Rhubarb and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 117 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Rhubarb and Fig Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Wash and peel the rhubarb, then cut it into one-inch pieces.

  2. Soak the figs in cold water, then chop finely or process with a food chopper along with the almonds.

Cook the jam

  1. Cook the rhubarb for 15 minutes with just enough water to prevent burning.

  2. Add the figs and almonds to the rhubarb, along with the strained juice of the lemon.

  3. Cook for about 45 to 60 minutes.

Jar

  1. Fill hot, sterilized jars with the jam and seal tightly once cooled.

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. Rhubarb + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together117 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Fig + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

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

  3. Fig + rhubarbtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together48 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the tart base and pectin-rich body that sets the jam as it cooks down.
Dried figs
Add natural sweetness, thickness and a deep, chewy texture to the jam.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep by binding water.
Lemon
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and supports gel formation.
Almonds
Contribute nutty flavour and a fine, slightly rich texture.

The step that matters

Cooking the rhubarb with only a little water. Rhubarb has little liquid of its own, so too little water lets it scorch on the bottom of the pan, while too much delays thickening. Keeping the heat moderate and the water minimal protects the flavour and lets the jam reduce properly.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fig, rhubarb, sugar, almond):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Quincefits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fig, rhubarb, sugar, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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