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Dessert

Compote of Green Figs

A compote made by simmering green figs in syrup with lemon rind, then reducing the syrup and serving cold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 763 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Compote of Green Figs

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Make a syrup by recipe No. 1512.

  2. Boil the syrup with the lemon rind, removing scum as it rises.

Cook the figs

  1. Add the green figs and simmer very slowly until tender.

  2. Dish the figs onto a glass dish.

Finish the syrup

  1. Reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly for 5 minutes.

  2. Remove the lemon peel.

  3. Pour the syrup over the figs.

Cool and serve

  1. Let the compote cool; it will be ready for table when cold.

  2. (Optional) Add a little port wine or lemon juice just before the figs are done.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

49Calories
1 gProtein
0 gFat
13 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Fig1 medium (50g)37
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Syrupnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Fig + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together763 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Syrup + figtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together114 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Green figs
Make up the body of the compote and soften to a tender texture when simmered.
Syrup
Sweetens the fruit and carries flavour into it as it cooks and reduces.
Lemon
Its rind adds aroma to the syrup, and its juice adds a bright acidity.

The step that matters

Simmer the figs very slowly until tender. Gentle heat lets the figs soften evenly while staying whole. Fast boiling can split the skins and break the fruit apart.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, fig):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, fig. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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