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Sauce

Sharp Brown Sauce

A thickened sauce made with onion, cider vinegar, water, tomato ketchup, pepper, salt, melted butter, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Sharp Brown Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put in a saucepan one tablespoonful of chopped onion, three tablespoonfuls of good cider vinegar, six tablespoonfuls of water, three tablespoons of tomato ketchup, a little pepper and salt, half a cup of melted butter.

  2. Stir in a tablespoonful of sifted flour.

  3. Put all together and boil until it thickens.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

604Calories
14 gProtein
13 gFat
105 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Cidernot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together32,460 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Flour
Thickens the sauce as its starch swells and sets when heated in the liquid.
Melted butter
Adds fat for smooth body, rich flavour and a glossy mouthfeel.
Cider vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the butter.
Chopped onion
Adds savoury aroma and background flavour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Boil until it thickens. Flour only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil, and the starch needs to cook through to lose its raw, pasty taste. Stopping early leaves the sauce thin and floury.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, butter, flour):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, butter, flour. 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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