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Dessert

Green Figs Preserved

Preserved figs made by boiling figs in clarified sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,241 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Green Figs Preserved

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prick the figs near the stalk.

  2. Scald the figs.

  3. Cool the figs slightly.

  4. Place the figs in cold water to drain.

Make the syrup and soak

  1. Boil the clarified sugar in a covered preserving pan.

  2. Add the figs to the boiling sugar.

  3. Let the figs boil for 3 to 4 times.

  4. Remove the mixture from heat and skim it.

  5. Let the mixture sit in a warm place overnight.

Reboil and soak again

  1. Drain the syrup.

  2. Boil the syrup a dozen times.

  3. Pour the syrup over the figs when lukewarm.

  4. Let the figs sit until the next day.

  5. Drain the syrup again.

  6. Boil the syrup once more.

  7. Add the figs back in.

  8. Boil the figs and syrup together once in the covered preserving pan.

  9. Skim the mixture again.

Store

  1. Transfer to jars for storage.

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 + 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
Their flesh softens and absorbs the syrup, becoming tender and sweet as they are preserved.
Clarified sugar
Forms a concentrated syrup that sweetens the figs and draws out water to help preserve them.

The step that matters

Repeated boiling and draining of the syrup. Each boil concentrates the sugar a little more, which thickens the syrup and helps preserve the figs. Boiling too hard or too long can break the fruit apart and make it tough.

“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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