Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
49 Olive Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Add 1 tablespoon chopped onion.
Stir in 1-1½ tablespoons flour and brown it.
Add 1 pint of browned flour.
Add liquid and olives
Add 1 tablespoon of water, milk, or raw nut butter milk.
If using raw nut butter, cook in water 20 minutes to ½ hour.
Add 10-15 ripe olives, 1-2 tablespoons.
Add lemon juice if desired.
Finish and serve
Prepare sauce in the usual manner and add sliced or chopped olives just before serving.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Olive | 1 large (4g) | 4 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Olive oil
- Carries the flavor and gives the flour a fat base to brown in.
- Flour (in the method)
- Starch thickens the sauce as it heats with liquid, and browning adds a toasty flavor.
- Onion (in the method)
- Adds savory aroma and background flavor to the sauce.
- Ripe olives
- Contribute briny, savory flavor and a soft texture to the sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the sauce.
The step that matters
Brown the flour in the oil. Cooking flour in fat until golden develops a nutty, toasted flavor and removes raw starch taste. Stop at light brown, because darker flour loses thickening power and turns bitter.
“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 olive sauce recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe 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.