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Poached Fig, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Tart Recipe

This tart from Chef Garces of Amada restaurant in Philadelphia takes the savory dessert trend to a whole other level. The combination of spiced figs with salted...

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Why it works: Fig and blue cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 15 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

1 (9-inch) tart (about 8 to 10 servings)

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Fig + blue cheesetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together15 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Cinnamon + star anisetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Fig + walnuttop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together373 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Cinnamon + figtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together613 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the star anise

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, red wine, fig, walnut, butter, blue cheese, cream):

  1. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  2. Clovebetter flavor fit
  3. Celerybetter flavor fit
  4. Star anisethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, red wine, fig, walnut, butter, blue cheese, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).