Caper Sauce

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. Flour + caperstop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together1,024 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together106,462 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together1,637 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together118,967 recipes

   Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour 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

Butter

Adds richness and a smooth, rounded flavor to the sauce base.

Flour

Thickens the sauce with the butter, giving it body as it heats.

Broth

Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a pourable sauce.

Capers

Add a sharp, briny flavor that gives the sauce its character.

Egg yolk

Enriches the sauce and adds extra body and a silkier texture.

The step that matters

Swap the capers

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg):

1. Capersthe original
2. Nutmegfits about as well
3. Jalapenofits about as well
4. Parsleyfits less well

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