Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Ordinary Nougat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Preheat the oven and place the almonds on a baking plate to heat.
Make the nougat
In a copper bowl, heat the sugar over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until it begins to melt.
Once the sugar starts to bubble, add the heated almonds and stir gently until well mixed.
Line small, lightly oiled molds with the nougat mixture, cutting the edges level before it cools completely.
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.
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shredded almonds
- Provide the bulk and crunch of the nougat, holding its structure once set.
- Sugar
- Melts and sets into the firm, chewy base that binds the almonds together.
The step that matters
Adding the almonds to the melted sugar. Sugar sets quickly as it cools, so the almonds should be warm and the mixture stirred gently but thoroughly. Cold almonds can cause the sugar to seize and harden unevenly, leaving lumps or a grainy texture instead of a smooth, uniform nougat.
“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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