Why it works: Sauce and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,787 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Espagnol Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a hot plate, reduce the boiling veloute sauce until it thickens to the consistency of double cream.
Add the cream and bring to a boil with the sauce.
Pass the mixture through a fine cloth into a bowl.
Stir in the coarse sea salt and cayenne pepper.
Keep warm in a bain-marie until ready to serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream and pepper share little aroma chemistry, yet 21,449 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Veloute sauce
- Forms the base of the sauce and thickens as it reduces.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body, smoothing the texture of the sauce.
The step that matters
Reducing the veloute sauce. Reducing concentrates the sauce and thickens it by evaporating water. Stop at the double cream consistency, since over-reducing can make it too thick and pasty, and under-reducing leaves it thin before the cream is added.
“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.
You might also like
Wine Sauce (for stewed fruit)186 recipes
Caper Sauce180 recipes
Brown Sauce141 recipes
Dutch Sauce74 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.