Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Nougat Be Marseilles
Ingredients
Directions
Make the honey and sugar syrup
Melt and skim the honey.
Boil the sugar until it reaches the crack stage.
Add the honey and orange-flower water to the sugar, stirring well.
Cook and mix
Gradually pour this mixture into the whipped egg whites while stirring quickly.
Continue stirring the mixture over a slow, moderate heat for about three hours until it reaches a consistency that can be snapped in cold water.
Add the almonds and mix well.
Set and cut
Spread the mixture about 1 inch thick on three sheets of wafer placed on a baking plate.
Cover with the remaining three sheets of wafer and press down with a baking plate.
Allow to cool completely before cutting into oblong squares measuring 1.5 inches by 1 inch and ¼ inch thick.
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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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Honey + orangetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,068 recipes
Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Honey + almondtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,069 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
What each ingredient does
- Honey
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and keeps the nougat soft and chewy rather than brittle.
- Sugar
- Cooked to the crack stage, it forms the firm, sweet structure that sets the nougat.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to foam, they trap air that gives the nougat its light, airy texture.
- Almonds
- Add body, crunch and nutty flavor to the chewy candy.
- White wafer
- Forms the edible base and cover sheets that hold the nougat in shape.
The step that matters
Stirring the mixture over heat until it passes the cold-water snap test. Cooking the mixture long enough drives off moisture and lets the sugar set firm. Stopping too early leaves it sticky and soft; cooking too far makes it hard and brittle once cooled.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (honey, sugar, almond, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against honey, sugar, almond, egg. 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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