Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Sheimps with Anchovy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter and anchovy paste together in a pan.
Add the shrimps and season with pepper, sautéing until heated through.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix in the cream.
Pour the mixture into a chafing dish and stir for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Serve
Serve immediately over toast.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Shrimp + anchovytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together440 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream into a sauce as they set with gentle heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky body to the sauce.
- Butter
- Provides fat for sautéing and carries flavour through the sauce.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds savoury depth, umami and a salty note to the sauce.
- Shrimps
- Provide the main protein and mild sweetness of the dish.
The step that matters
Thickening the egg yolk and cream mixture. Egg yolks set between roughly 65 and 80°C, so gentle heat and constant stirring are needed. Too much heat scrambles the yolks and curdles the sauce.
“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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