Name: Tutti Frutti
Ingredients: dates, chopped; candied cherries, chopped; figs, chopped; almonds, chopped; pineapple juice

Why it works: Dates and fig work together. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 318 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Tutti Frutti

Ingredients

Directions

Combine equal quantities of chopped dates, candied cherries, figs, and almonds.
Thin the mixture with pineapple juice.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Dates + figtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together318 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Fig + almondtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together519 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Fig + pineappletop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together100 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Dates + almondtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together217 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Dates + pineappletop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together53 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Dates: Provide natural sweetness and a soft, chewy body to the mixture.
Candied cherries: Add sweetness, bright color and a chewy texture.
Figs: Contribute chewiness and concentrated fruit sweetness.
Almonds: Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts the soft fruit.
Pineapple juice: Adds moisture and fruity sweetness, loosening the mixture so it can be spread or packed.