Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Excellent Horseradish Sauce, to Serve Hot or Cold with Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the prepared horseradish, vinegar, sugar, salt, and black pepper, and mix well until the ingredients are fully combined.
Fold in the sour cream until smooth.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Horseradish + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,646 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Horseradish + vinegartop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Prepared horseradish
- Provides the sharp, pungent heat that defines the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sharp flavor and balances the cream.
- Sugar
- Adds a little sweetness that softens the bite of the horseradish and vinegar.
- Sour cream
- Gives the sauce its creamy body and mellows the heat.
Swap the horseradish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Horseradishthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream. 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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