Why it works: Capers and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,550 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Mince 1 tablespoon of capers very fine.
Divide the remaining capers in half.
Combine all capers in ½ pint of melted butter or thickened gravy.
Stir gently to avoid oil separation.
Add minced parsley if desired.
Store the capers
Keep the caper bottle tightly corked and do not use the liquor.
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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Capers + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,550 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Capers + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,637 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Capers + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,453 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
- Capers
- Add a sharp, briny flavour that cuts through the richness of the butter.
- Butter
- Provides fat for a rich, smooth body and carries the caper flavour.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the fat.
The step that matters
Stir gently to avoid oil separation. Butter sauces are emulsions of fat and water held together by milk solids and gentle mixing. Vigorous stirring or overheating can break the emulsion, so the fat separates and the sauce turns greasy and grainy.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (capers, vinegar, butter):
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleythe original
- Dillfits less well
- Garlicfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against capers, vinegar, 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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