Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Melted Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine 2 ounces of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour in a saucepan. Mix well with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Gradually add ½ pint of water, seasoning with 1 teaspoon of salt and ⅙ teaspoon of pepper.
Place the saucepan on the stove and stir continuously until just before boiling.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of brown vinegar and 1 ounce of fresh butter until melted.
If desired, grate a little nutmeg into the sauce.
Check and finish
The sauce should lightly coat the back of a spoon and be transparent, not pasty.
For a smoother texture, pass the sauce through a sieve if needed.
Omit the last ounce of butter for a plainer sauce.
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.
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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
- Melted into the flour to form the sauce base and give it richness.
- Flour
- Thickens the water and butter mixture so the sauce coats a spoon.
- Water
- Forms the liquid body of the sauce that the flour thickens.
- Brown vinegar
- Adds a sharp acidity that brightens the buttery sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring until just before boiling. Flour thickens as its starch swells in hot liquid, but stirring stops lumps forming. Overheating or letting it boil can break the emulsion and leave the sauce pasty or greasy.
Swap the nutmeg
The recipe marks nutmeg as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Turmericfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, vinegar. 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.
More melted butter sauce recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.