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Ginger Sauce

A sauce made with ginger, brandy, ginger syrup, lemon juice, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Ginger Sauce

Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ginger Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Dilute cornstarch with water.

  2. Stir in brandy, ginger syrup, and lemon juice.

  3. Cook for 5 minutes.

  4. Add chopped ginger, lemon rind, and butter.

Serve

  1. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Ginger + syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together950 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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 and sets when heated.
Ginger syrup
Adds sweetness and ginger flavor.
Brandy
Adds a warm, aromatic depth of flavor.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness.
Finely chopped ginger
Adds sharp, fresh ginger aroma and bite.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, glossy finish.

The step that matters

Cook for 5 minutes. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the liquid reaches a simmer and the starch granules swell and gelatinize. Stopping early leaves the sauce thin and cloudy, so the starch needs enough heat and time to set.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, syrup, lemon, butter):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, syrup, lemon, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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