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Dessert

Fig and Rhubarb Jam

A jam made from rhubarb, figs, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Rhubarb and fig share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 48 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Fig and Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Shred and cut the rhubarb into small pieces.

  2. Cut the figs into small pieces.

Cook the jam

  1. In a preserving pan, combine the rhubarb, figs, and sugar.

  2. Boil the mixture until the figs are tender.

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. Rhubarb + figtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together48 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

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

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

  3. Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides tartness and body, breaking down to give the jam its structure.
Figs
Add sweetness and a soft, thick texture as they cook down.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set by binding water and thickening the fruit.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture until the figs are tender. Cooking must continue until the fruit is fully softened so the pectin and sugar can thicken the jam. Stopping early leaves it runny and the fruit pieces firm.

Swap the rhubarb

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Rhubarbthe original
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against fig, sugar. 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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