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Griddled Fig, Pecan & Halloumi Salad

A delicious, light yet sophisticated starter, great for vegetarian guests

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Why it works: Halloumi and fig work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 3 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl butyrate, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 6
Prep30 min

Ingredients

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

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Toast the pecan halves in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant. Tip them onto a plate and set aside.

  2. Heat a griddle pan over high heat until very hot.

  3. Brush the halloumi slices and fig halves with some of the olive oil. Griddle the halloumi for 2 minutes per side until golden, then set aside. Griddle the figs cut side down for 2 to 3 minutes until charred and softened.

  4. Whisk the rose harissa (or normal harissa, if using) with the lemon juice and the remaining olive oil to make a dressing.

  5. Put the rocket in a large bowl and add the figs, halloumi, pecans and chopped coriander. Drizzle over the dressing, toss gently and serve straight away.

By bbcgoodfood. 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. Halloumi + figtop 13% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together3 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  2. Lemon + coriandertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Halloumi + cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together86 recipes

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

  4. Halloumi + olivetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  5. Olive + coriandertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,708 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (halloumi, cheese, fig, olive, lemon, rose):

  1. Peppermintbetter flavor fit
  2. Mintbetter flavor fit
  3. Rosemaryabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Corianderthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against halloumi, cheese, fig, olive, lemon, rose. 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).