Why it works: Sauce and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Fricassee Rabbits Brown
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fry the rabbits in butter until light brown.
Place them in a pan with water, lemon pickle, mushroom ketchup, browning sauce, anchovy, lemon, cayenne pepper, and salt.
Cook and serve
Stew over low heat until cooked through.
Thicken the gravy, strain it, and pour over the rabbits before serving.
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.
-
Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rabbits
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through slow stewing in liquid.
- Butter
- Browns the rabbit surface, adding color and a rich, savory flavor.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds deep savory, umami flavor to the gravy.
- Anchovy
- Dissolves into the liquid, adding savory depth without a clearly fishy taste.
The step that matters
Stew over low heat until cooked through. Gentle, low heat lets the connective tissue in the rabbit break down slowly, keeping the meat tender and moist. High heat would toughen the meat and reduce the liquid too quickly.
“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.
More rabbit fricassee recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Mushroom Soup60 recipes
Rabbit Patties6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes