Why it works: Flour and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,024 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the meat broth to boiling and skim off any impurities.
Mix the flour with a little cold water until smooth and free of lumps.
Stir the flour mixture into the boiling broth until the sauce thickens evenly.
For best results, cook the sauce in a double boiler.
After boiling for about a minute, gradually add the butter, stirring well after each addition.
Season with salt and add the capers.
Allow the sauce to boil briefly, then transfer to a sauceboat.
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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Flour + caperstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,024 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,637 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Meat + caperstop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together197 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Flour and butter 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
- Meat broth
- Forms the liquid base that the sauce's flavour and body come from.
- Flour
- Thickens the broth into a smooth sauce as its starch swells when heated.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a glossy finish as it is stirred into the sauce.
- Capers
- Contribute a sharp, briny acidity that cuts the richness of the butter.
The step that matters
Adding the flour mixture to the boiling broth. Flour lumps form if the starch is added unevenly or without being smoothed in cold water first. Stirring while the liquid boils lets the starch swell and thicken evenly.
Swap the capers
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, flour, butter):
- Capersthe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, flour, 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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