Why it works: Mushroom and truffle are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Richelieu Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Lightly fry the chopped mushrooms in butter.
In a saucepan, combine the velouté sauce and reduce slightly over low heat.
Remove from heat and mix in the mushrooms and truffles.
Stir in the beaten egg yolks and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Just before serving, mix in a piece of butter without allowing it to boil again.
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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Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,209 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Velouté sauce
- Forms the smooth base of the sauce and carries the other flavours.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce and enrich its texture as they gently cook.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy savoury flavour and body to the sauce.
- Truffles
- Contribute a concentrated, aromatic flavour to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a glossy, smooth finish to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken sauces through gentle heat, but if the sauce boils they can scramble and curdle. Stir constantly and keep the heat low so the sauce thickens smoothly.
“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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