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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet filling made from figs, sugar, water, lemon juice, and optional sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Fig Filling

Why it works: Fig and sherry work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Chop the figs using a food chopper.

  2. In a pot, mix the chopped figs, sugar, boiling water, and lemon juice.

  3. Simmer the mixture slowly until it becomes a smooth paste.

  4. Let the filling cool before using.

  5. If desired, stir in the sherry wine.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

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

  3. Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,157 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Fig + winetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together195 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the bulk and natural sweetness, and their pectin and pulp break down into a smooth paste.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps keep the cooked filling moist and thick.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet fig flavor and helps balance it.

The step that matters

Simmer the mixture slowly until smooth. Cooking gently lets the figs soften and release their pectin and pulp evenly, so the mixture thickens into a smooth paste. Rapid boiling can scorch the sugar and fruit on the bottom of the pot and leave a lumpy or uneven texture.

Swap the lemon

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fig, sugar, sherry, wine. 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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