Name: Fig Sandwiches
Ingredients: figs; water; lemon juice; buttered bread; chopped nut meats

Why it works: Fig and bread work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 374 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Fig Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Steam and finely chop enough figs.
Add water to achieve a marmalade consistency and simmer until smooth.
Flavor with a little lemon juice.
Once cool, spread the fig mixture on thin slices of buttered bread.
Sprinkle thickly with finely chopped nut meats.

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.

Fig + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together374 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Fig + lemontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together763 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Bread + meattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lemon + breadtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,445 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Fig + meattop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together143 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).