Name: Milk with Da Tes and Figs
Ingredients: 1 pint milk; 2 to 6 ounces dried figs; 2 to 6 ounces dried dates

Why it works: Fig and dates work together. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 318 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Milk with Da Tes and Figs

Ingredients

1 pint milk
2 to 6 ounces dried figs
2 to 6 ounces dried dates

Directions

Prepare

Pour boiling water over the figs and let them stand for 24 hours.
Alternatively, add the figs to cold milk and heat until warm.

Serve

Serve the figs and dates with the milk.
Adjust the quantity of milk and fruit based on personal preference.

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.

Fig + datestop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together318 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Milk + figtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,026 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Milk + datestop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together470 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

Milk: Forms the creamy liquid base and carries the sweet fruit flavour.
Dried figs: Add natural sweetness and a soft, chewy texture as they soften.
Dried dates: Add concentrated sweetness and a thick, chewy body to the drink.