Name: French Nougat
Ingredients: 12 egg whites; 3 lbs glucose; 4 lbs white sugar; 1 quart water; 1½ lbs almonds; vanilla flavor; wafer sheets

Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

French Nougat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

Whip the egg whites in a kettle until stiff.
In another kettle, combine glucose, white sugar, and water.
Heat and stir the mixture until dissolved.
Cook the mixture to 250°F (120°C) and pour half over the whipped egg whites while stirring vigorously with a wooden paddle.
Cook the remaining mixture to 260°F (130°C) and pour it over the egg whites as before.
Place the kettle with the nougat mixture in a larger kettle of boiling water.
Cook until a small portion flattens in cold water and snaps when hit.

Finish and set

Remove from the steam bath.
Add vanilla flavor and almonds.
Pour into a wafer-lined box.
Cover with a wafer sheet.
Let set overnight.
Cut into slices the next morning.

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.

Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together27,347 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Egg whites: Whipped to a stiff foam, they trap air that gives the nougat its light, airy texture.
White sugar: Cooked into a syrup that sets firm as it cools, giving the nougat its chewy body and sweetness.
Glucose: Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the nougat smooth and tender rather than grainy.
Almonds: Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrasts with the chewy, airy base.

The step that matters

Cooking the syrup to temperature. Syrup cooked to 250°F and 260°F sets to different firmness as it cools. Undercooking leaves the nougat soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and brittle. Checking the cold-water test helps confirm the target stage.