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Dessert

Figs Stewed in Claret

A sweet dessert of figs stewed in claret wine, chilled and served with whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Figs Stewed in Claret

Ingredients

Directions

Make the figs

  1. In a pot, combine figs, claret, and sugar to taste.

  2. Cook the mixture over low heat until the figs are tender and the syrup thickens.

  3. Remove from heat and chill the mixture in the refrigerator until well chilled.

Serve

  1. Serve in tall frappé glasses topped with whipped cream.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Fig + red winetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Fig + creamtop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together523 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Red wine + creamtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together257 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Soften during gentle cooking and release their sweetness and body into the wine syrup.
Claret
Provides the liquid for simmering and, reduced slightly, flavors and thickens the syrup.
Sugar
Sweetens the wine and helps the syrup thicken as it reduces.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat until the figs are tender and the syrup thickens. Gentle heat softens the figs evenly without breaking them down, while slow reduction concentrates the wine and sugar into a syrup. High heat can scorch the sugar and wine or turn the figs mushy before the syrup has thickened.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Figthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against red wine, sugar, cream. 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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