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Dessert

Fried Figs

Fried figs are ripe figs fried in butter and sprinkled with brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,042 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Fried Figs

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Peel the figs and cut them in half lengthwise.

  2. Heat butter in a pan over medium heat.

  3. Place the figs cut side up in the pan and fry until light brown.

  4. Remove from the pan and sprinkle with brown sugar before serving.

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 + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,042 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the main body and sweet, soft flesh that softens and caramelises in the pan.
Butter
Conducts heat evenly and promotes browning of the cut fig surfaces through frying.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel note to the finished figs.

The step that matters

Frying the figs until light brown. Frying cut side up over medium heat lets the surface caramelise and brown without burning. Too much heat can scorch the sugars in the figs and butter before the flesh softens.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Peachfits about as well
  4. Coconutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar. 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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