Name: Turkish Nougat or Alakuma
Ingredients: 1 ½ pounds sugar; ½ teaspoon cream of tartar; ½ pint water; Whites of 5 eggs; 1 ½ pounds glucose

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Turkish Nougat or Alakuma

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 248°F (120°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the first syrup

In a kettle, combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar, then stir until boiling.
Wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth and insert a thermometer.
Cook until it reaches 248°F (120°C).

Combine with the egg whites

While cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff in a large kettle.
Once the sugar mixture reaches 248°F, remove it from the heat quickly.
Slowly pour the hot mixture into the beaten egg whites while someone stirs continuously, continue stirring for a minute, then let it stand undisturbed.

Make the second batch

Do not wash the kettle; weigh and prepare the second batch.
For the second batch, combine 1 ½ pounds sugar, 1 ½ pounds glucose, and ½ pint water, then stir until boiling.
Wash down the sides of the kettle and insert a thermometer.
Cook until it reaches 258°F (126°C).

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Whipped whites form the airy foam that gives the nougat its structure.
Sugar: Cooked to a set temperature, it forms the firm, sweet body of the nougat.
Glucose: Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the nougat smooth and chewy rather than grainy.
Cream of tartar: Acid that stabilizes the egg white foam and helps prevent sugar crystals from forming.

The step that matters

Remove the syrup at 248°F and pour it slowly while stirring. The syrup's final temperature sets its sugar concentration and firmness, so removing it on time matters. Pouring slowly while stirring blends the hot syrup into the foam without collapsing the whipped whites.

“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.