Why it works: Vinegar and tarragon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Tarragon Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine the demi‑glaze and broth in a stewpan and bring to a boil for a few minutes.
Add the vinegar and tarragon leaves and simmer for 2 minutes.
Serve
Serve with poultry, especially spring chickens.
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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Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 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
- Demi-glaze
- Concentrated stock that gives the sauce body and savory depth.
- Broth
- Thins the demi-glaze and adds moisture to the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich, savory sauce.
- Tarragon leaves
- Adds the herb's distinct aroma to the sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the vinegar and tarragon and simmering for 2 minutes. Tarragon's aroma is volatile and fades with prolonged heat, so the leaves need only a short simmer to flavor the sauce without losing their fresh character.
“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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