Why it works: Sorrel and butter work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 652 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Soruel Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a stewpan, combine the chopped sorrel and fresh butter.
Stew until the liquid is almost reduced.
Add a little strong broth to achieve a good thickness.
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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Sorrel + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together652 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sorrel
- Provides the sharp, lemony acidity and the main flavour of the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, glossy mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Strong broth
- Adds savoury depth and, once reduced, body that thickens the sauce.
The step that matters
Stewing until the liquid is almost reduced. Sorrel releases a lot of water as it cooks. Reducing that liquid concentrates the flavour and prevents a thin, watery sauce before the broth is added.
“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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