Name: Superlative Sauce
Ingredients: 1 cup claret or port wine; 1 cup mushroom ketchup; ½ cup walnut or other pickle liquor; 4 ounces pounded anchovies; 1 ounce fresh lemon peel, pared very thin; 1 ounce peeled and sliced shallots; 1 ounce scraped horseradish; ½ ounce allspice, powdered; ½ ounce black pepper, powdered; 1 teaspoon cayenne or 1 tablespoon curry powder; 1 teaspoon bruised celery seed

Why it works: Shallot and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 376 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

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.

Shallot + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together376 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,982 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Horseradish + allspicetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together654 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lemon + shallottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,523 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Walnut + shallottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together440 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Anchovies: Adds deep savory saltiness that gives the sauce its umami backbone.
Mushroom ketchup: Contributes concentrated savory umami flavor and dark color.
Claret or port wine: Adds acidity and fruity depth that balances the rich savory ingredients.
Walnut or other pickle liquor: Provides sharp, tangy acidity that brightens the sauce.
Shallots: Add mild onion-like pungency that softens as the sauce steeps.
Horseradish: Adds sharp pungent heat that mellows during steeping.

The step that matters

Shaking the sealed bottle daily for two weeks. Steeping over time lets flavors from the solids extract and blend into the liquid. Skipping the daily shaking or opening the bottle early leaves the flavors unevenly mixed and underdeveloped.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (port wine, mushroom, ketchup, walnut, shallot, horseradish, allspice):

Lemonthe original
Limefits about as well
Figfits less well
Cherryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against port wine, mushroom, ketchup, walnut, shallot, horseradish, allspice. 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.

Superlative Sauce