Name: Sour Cream Dkkssixg
Ingredients: 1 cup thick sour cream; 3 tablespoons vinegar or juice of 1 lemon; 2 teaspoons vinegar; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 dash cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Sour Cream Dkkssixg

Ingredients

1 cup thick sour cream
3 tablespoons vinegar or juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 dash cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine the thick sour cream and vinegar or lemon juice in a bowl.
Add the sugar, cayenne pepper or paprika, and salt.
Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together21,449 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + vinegartop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,064 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Sour cream: Provides the thick, creamy body and mild tang that form the base of the dressing.
Vinegar or lemon juice: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and cuts the richness of the cream.
Sugar: Balances the sharpness of the acid with a touch of sweetness.

“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.