Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Egg Sauce for Boiled Codfish
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Stir in the flour and cook until bubbling.
Gradually add the milk, stirring until thick and smooth.
Remove from heat and mix in the chopped hard-boiled egg.
Slowly add the beaten raw egg, stirring continuously.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve
Pour over boiled codfish or serve in a sauce dish.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 fat and richness, and helps form the base roux with the flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth, stable sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid body of the sauce, which thickens as it heats.
- Hard-boiled egg
- Adds firm texture and rich egg flavor throughout the sauce.
- Raw egg
- Enriches the sauce and thickens it slightly as it gently cooks.
The step that matters
Adding the raw egg. Raw egg can curdle or scramble if it meets hot sauce too quickly. Adding it slowly while stirring constantly tempers it, so it blends smoothly and thickens gently.
“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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