Name: Fig Paste Straws
Ingredients: 6 lbs. fig paste; XXXX sugar (to taste); 9 lbs. sugar; 2 quarts water; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

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 ↓

Fig Paste Straws

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fig paste

Warm the fig paste over a steam bath and mix in enough sugar to make it stiff.

Make the sugar mixture

In a separate pot, combine 9 lbs. sugar, 2 quarts water, and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar.
Cook the mixture until it reaches 330°F (165°C).
Pour the cooked sugar mixture onto a slab and color and flavor it as desired.

Shape and cut

Pull the mixture on a hook to form a flat piece for the jacket around the fig paste.
Cut the formed mixture into small sticks, each 4 inches long.

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).
Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,241 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Fig + creamtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together523 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Fig paste: Forms the fruity filling at the center, stiffened with sugar so it holds its shape.
Sugar: Sweetens the dish and, when cooked, sets into the glossy, firm jacket around the filling.
Cream of tartar: Adds acidity that helps keep the cooked sugar from turning grainy or crystallizing.

The step that matters

Cooking the sugar to 330°F (165°C). The final temperature controls how firm the sugar jacket will be. Stopping early leaves it soft and sticky, while cooking too far can make it brown and bitter. Reaching the target gives a jacket that holds its shape when pulled and cut.