Name: Stuffed Monkeys
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh dates, washed and pitted; ½ pound dried figs, washed; ½ cup walnut meats; granulated sugar for rolling; toothpicks for serving

Why it works: Dates and fig work together. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 318 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Stuffed Monkeys

Ingredients

1 pound fresh dates, washed and pitted
½ pound dried figs, washed
½ cup walnut meats
granulated sugar for rolling
toothpicks for serving

Directions

Make the candy

Grind the fresh dates, dried figs, and walnut meats together until a paste forms, then mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Form the mixture into small balls the size of walnuts.
Roll each ball in granulated sugar.

Serve

Insert a toothpick into each ball and serve as candy.

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.

Dates + figtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together318 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Fig + walnuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together373 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Dates + walnuttop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together302 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Walnut + meattop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,035 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,241 recipes

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