Name: Fig Pudding
Ingredients: 4 oz. dried figs, finely chopped; 3 oz. finely chopped suet; 2 oz. breadcrumbs; 2 oz. flour; 2 oz. sugar; ½ pint milk; 1 egg; a pinch of salt; a pinch of nutmeg

Why it works: Fig and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Chop the figs finely and combine with the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Beat the egg and add the milk, then pour into the mixture and stir well.
Transfer the mixture into a greased basin.

Cook and serve

Steam for about 24 hours.
Serve with sweet sauce.

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.

Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together510 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Fig + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,026 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Fig + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,192 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Dried figs: Provide the main fruit flavour and sweetness, and moisture as they soften during steaming.
Suet: Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a moist, tender texture.
Breadcrumbs: Absorb liquid and add bulk, giving the pudding body and structure.
Flour: Helps bind the mixture and gives it structure as it cooks.
Egg: Binds the ingredients together and helps set the pudding.
Milk: Adds moisture that hydrates the dry ingredients into a spoonable batter.