Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Sauce Pierre
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Sauté onion and garlic in butter.
Add the mushrooms and shrimp, then stir over high heat for 2 minutes.
Add thyme and brandy.
Ignite to flambé.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Serve
Serve with grilled fish or seafood of your choice and buttered noodles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Shrimp | 100g cooked | 99 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Mushroom | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
| Dairy | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,608 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Thyme + mushroomtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,557 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Garlic + mushroomtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,700 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat for sautéing and adds rich flavour to the sauce.
- Shrimp
- Forms the main protein and cooks quickly over high heat, adding savoury seafood flavour.
- Mushrooms
- Release moisture as they cook, adding earthy flavour and body to the sauce.
- Dairy cream
- Adds richness and moisture, and thickens the sauce as it simmers.
- Brandy
- Adds aromatic flavour; flambéing burns off alcohol and leaves a mellower taste.
The step that matters
Ignite to flambé. Alcohol vapour can ignite suddenly, so the pan should be off the heat or the brandy added carefully away from the flame. Flambéing burns off much of the alcohol while keeping its aromatic flavour.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, butter, shrimp, mushroom, brandy, fish sauce):
- Thymethe original
- Gingerfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Corianderfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, butter, shrimp, mushroom, brandy, fish sauce. 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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