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Preserve

To Preserve Green Figs

A method of preserving green figs by boiling them with sugar and sun-drying.

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 ↓

To Preserve Green Figs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the figs

  1. Gather figs when they are starting to ripen.

  2. Place figs in a sieve.

  3. Pour boiling water over the figs.

  4. Let the figs stand for about 1 hour.

Make the syrup and cook

  1. Weigh the sugar and use an equal amount to the weight of the figs.

  2. In a kettle, combine figs and sugar to boil with the syrup.

  3. Remove the figs and place them in dishes to sun-dry.

  4. Boil the syrup down.

  5. Return the figs to the syrup.

  6. Let the figs boil for a short time.

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

Green figs
The main fruit, which softens, sweetens and becomes chewy as it cooks in syrup.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and thickens the syrup, drawing moisture out of the figs to help preserve them.

The step that matters

Let the figs boil for a short time. Boiling for too long can break down the fig flesh and make it collapse or turn mushy. Sugar concentration in the syrup preserves the figs, so a brief boil is enough.

“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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