Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
White Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine milk and cornstarch, stirring until smooth.
Add butter and heat until thickened.
Cream the butter in a bowl.
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Just before serving, add boiling water and stir until thickened like custard.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells when heated in liquid.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and further thicken the sauce as they set with gentle heat.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel and flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet hot liquid too quickly. Adding them one at a time while beating well helps blend them evenly, keeping the sauce smooth and creamy rather than lumpy.
“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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