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 ↓
Brown Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Brown the roux
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it is richly browned.
Add the flour and continue browning, stirring constantly.
Finish the sauce
Gradually add the hot stock while beating briskly.
Add the salt and pepper, then bring to a boil.
Remove from heat immediately to prevent separation.
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).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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
- Carries the browned, nutty flavor and gives the sauce richness.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
- Brown stock
- Forms the sauce's liquid base and supplies its savory flavor.
The step that matters
Gradually add the hot stock while beating briskly. Flour starch must be dispersed evenly before it thickens. Adding the hot liquid slowly while beating separates the starch granules so they do not clump into 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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