Why it works: Tomato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,667 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Tomato Figs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes to remove the skin.
Weigh the tomatoes.
Place the tomatoes in a stone jar with an equal amount of sugar.
Let them stand for two days.
Make the syrup
Pour off the syrup.
Boil and skim the syrup until no foam rises.
Pour the syrup over the tomatoes.
Let them stand for another two days.
Boil and skim the syrup again.
Check if the weather is good; if so, they are ready to dry.
If the weather is not good, let them sit in the syrup until drying weather.
Dry and pack
Place the tomatoes on large earthen plates or dishes.
Put them in the sun to dry for about a week.
After drying, pack them in small wooden boxes with fine white sugar between each layer.
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.
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Tomato + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,667 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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the fruit that is preserved, softened by sugar syrup and then dried into a chewy texture.
- Sugar
- Draws water out of the tomatoes and preserves them, giving sweetness and a dense, glossy texture.
The step that matters
Boil and skim the syrup until no foam rises. Foam is impurities and proteins rising from the sugar syrup. Skimming until it stops gives a clear syrup that keeps the tomatoes clean and well preserved during the long soak.
“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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