Why it works: Butter and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,513 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Burnt Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Cook until the butter turns a dark brown color.
Add the vinegar and season with coarse sea salt to taste.
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.
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.
-
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Melts and browns, with milk solids toasting to give a nutty, rich aroma and flavour.
- Vinegar
- Adds a touch of acidity that brightens the rich, nutty butter.
The step that matters
Cooking the butter until dark brown. Butter's milk solids toast as the water boils off, creating nutty flavour. Removing it too early leaves the butter pale and bland, while letting it go too long turns it bitter and burnt.
“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 brown butter recipes
You might also like
Wine Sauce (for stewed fruit)186 recipes
Caper Sauce180 recipes
Brown Sauce141 recipes
Dutch Sauce74 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.