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Dessert

Herodotus Pudding

A baked pudding made with bread crumbs, figs, suet, sugar, eggs, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Herodotus Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the suet and figs very finely.

Make the pudding

  1. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, minced suet, minced figs, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg.

  2. Add the beaten eggs and mix well.

  3. Pour the mixture into a mold.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil in water for 4 hours.

  2. Serve with wine sauce.

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.

  1. Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together510 recipes

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

  2. Bread + figtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  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

Bread crumbs
Provides the bulk and body that holds the pudding together.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich during long cooking.
Figs
Contribute sweetness, moisture, and a fruity flavor.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses note that deepens the flavor.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.

The step that matters

Boil in water for 4 hours. The mold must stay submerged and the water must keep a steady simmer for the full time. If the water boils low or the mold is left exposed, the pudding dries out or cooks unevenly, and the eggs may not set properly.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, fig, sugar, egg. 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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