Name: Cucumber Sauce
Ingredients: 6 tablespoonfuls of brown gravy; 1/2 pint of white stock; 1 gill of cream; 1 quart of medium stock; 1 quart of vinegar; 1 tablespoonful of salt; 2 tablespoonfuls of pepper; 1/4 teaspoonful of cayenne; 3 tablespoonfuls of salad-oil; 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar; 1/2 pint of broth; 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley; 1/2 pint of water; 1/2 pint of good brown gravy; 1 pint of white stock; a piece of butter the size of a walnut; a piece of muslin; 4 cucumbers; 3 eggs; 1 large cucumber; 2 eggs; 4 persons; 10 large cucumbers; 12 smaller ones; 2 onions; 2 shalots; 3 cucumbers; 5 persons; 6 persons; 1 lemon

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

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.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Walnut + cucumbertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together380 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Parsley + walnuttop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together865 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Parsley + cucumbertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,564 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Provide the main body of the sauce; they soften and release moisture as they cook.
Butter: Adds fat and richness and helps the cucumber pieces take on colour in the pan.
Brown gravy: Supplies the savoury liquid that the cucumbers simmer in to form the sauce.

The step that matters

Shaking the cucumbers over a sharp fire until coloured. Pressing out excess water first and cooking briefly over high heat lets the pieces brown rather than steam. Too much liquid or a weak fire leaves the sauce pale and watery.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, vinegar, pepper, parsley, butter, cucumber, egg):

Walnutthe original
Chickpeafits about as well
Sesamefits about as well
Beansfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, vinegar, pepper, parsley, butter, cucumber, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Cucumber Sauce

Cucumber Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cucumbers

Cook and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)