Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Butter Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the roux
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the flour and cook until the mixture is lightly browned.
Finish the sauce
Gradually add the water, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
For a richer sauce, stir in 1 to 2 additional ounces of butter just before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat and rich flavour, and its milk solids brown to add a nutty taste.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce by forming a roux with the butter, whose starch swells as liquid is added.
The step that matters
Adding the water gradually. Pouring the liquid in slowly while stirring constantly lets the starch disperse evenly, so the sauce thickens smoothly without lumps.
“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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