Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 15,338 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Original Dutch or Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soften the butter but do not melt it.
Warm the vinegar until nearly milk warm.
Make the sauce
Stir a spoonful of vinegar into the butter until absorbed.
Add another spoonful of vinegar, then the yolk of an egg.
Continue adding more vinegar, flavoring, and another yolk.
Use immediately or keep cold until needed.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Vinegar + saucetop 26% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,844 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Butter and sauce share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,338 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the butter and vinegar, thickening the sauce into a smooth, rich texture.
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, forming the body of the emulsified sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that balances the richness of the butter and yolks.
The step that matters
Keep the butter soft, not melted, and add vinegar and yolk gradually. Egg yolks are emulsifiers that bind fat and liquid only when added slowly. Melted butter or adding too much liquid at once can cause the sauce to separate or become greasy.
“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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