Why it works: Tomato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,667 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Tomato Figs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Remove the skins from the tomatoes and weigh them.
Add an equal weight of sugar and let them stand for two days.
Make the syrup
Boil the syrup and skim it well.
Pour the syrup over the tomatoes and let them stand for two more days.
Dry and pack
On the third pouring, dry the tomatoes in the sun or oven.
When perfectly dry, pack them in boxes with a layer of sugar between.
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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Tomato + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,667 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the fruit that softens, dries and becomes the preserved product.
- Sugar
- Draws water out of the tomatoes and preserves them, while adding sweetness.
The step that matters
Drying until perfectly dry. Sugar syrup preserves the tomatoes by drawing out their water. If they are not fully dry before packing, residual moisture can let them spoil or become sticky in storage.
“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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