Name: Savory Butter
Ingredients: 4 ounces rich cheese; 1 small piece of butter; 2 tablespoons vinegar from pickled walnuts; 1 dash cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons essence of anchovy; 2 teaspoons mustard

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Savory Butter

Ingredients

Directions

Make the butter

Pound the cheese and butter together until smooth.
Add the vinegar, cayenne, essence of anchovy, and mustard; mix well.
Heat the mixture over low heat until warm.

Serve

Serve as a spread on toast.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Walnut + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together849 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,805 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Rich cheese: Provides the main body, richness and savory flavor of the spread.
Butter: Adds fat and smoothness, helping the mixture spread and feel creamy.
Vinegar from pickled walnuts: Contributes acidity and a tangy flavor that balances the richness.
Essence of anchovy: Adds concentrated savory, salty depth to the spread.
Mustard: Adds sharpness and pungent flavor that cuts through the fat.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, butter, vinegar, pepper, anchovy, mustard):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, butter, vinegar, pepper, anchovy, mustard. 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.