Why it works: Butter and capers are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,637 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the drawn butter, chopped capers, and juice from the bottled capers.
Let the mixture simmer gently.
Serve warm.
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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Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,637 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
- Drawn butter
- Provides richness, a smooth body, and the fat that carries the flavour of the sauce.
- Chopped capers
- Add a briny, pungent aroma and bite that cut through the richness of the butter.
- Juice from bottled capers
- Adds acidity and tang, brightening the buttery sauce and echoing the caper flavour.
The step that matters
Let the mixture simmer gently. Butter-based sauces can separate or scorch if boiled hard. Gentle heat keeps the fat emulsified and smooth and stops the butter from browning or turning bitter.
“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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