Why it works: Capers and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,088 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, stir together melted butter, capers, and vinegar.
For boiled mutton, add the water from the mutton, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Bring the mixture to a boil and 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Capers + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,088 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,637 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + muttontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Melted butter forms the rich, smooth body of the sauce and carries its flavor.
- Capers
- Provide a sharp, briny flavor that cuts through the richness of the butter.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the fat.
- Water from boiled mutton
- Adds savory meat flavor and liquid to thin the butter into a pourable sauce.
The step that matters
Bring the mixture to a boil. Melted butter and liquid separate easily when overheated, so bringing the sauce to a boil while stirring helps it stay blended and hot. Boiling too long can thicken or break it.
Swap the capers
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, vinegar, mutton, pepper):
- Parsleyfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Capersthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, vinegar, mutton, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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