Why it works: Fig and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Fig Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the figs finely.
Combine the figs with the breadcrumbs, flour, sugar, and nutmeg in a bowl.
Beat the eggs and add the milk.
Pour the egg and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well.
Grease a basin and pour the mixture into it.
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.
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Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together510 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fig + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Fig + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,192 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, milk, egg, nutmeg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figthe original
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, milk, egg, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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