Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Stewed Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the mushrooms and cut off the ends of the stalks.
Peel the mushrooms and place them in a stew pan without any water.
Cook
Season with salt and pepper.
Roll the butter in the flour and add it to the mushrooms.
Cover the pan and let the mushrooms simmer slowly until soft.
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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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mushroom + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,253 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Mushrooms
- Main ingredient; they release their own juices as they simmer, forming the base of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the mushrooms.
- All-purpose flour
- Coats the butter and thickens the mushroom juices into a lightly thickened sauce.
The step that matters
Simmer slowly with the pan covered. The lid traps moisture so the mushrooms release their own juices and soften evenly. High heat can scorch the butter and flour coating before enough liquid forms, leaving the sauce gritty and burnt-tasting.
“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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