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Ragoui of Truffle

A truffle ragout made with butter, white wine, and reduced espagnole sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,083 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Ragoui of Truffle

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Slice or dice the truffles.

  2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt a bit of butter and add the truffles.

  3. Let the truffles sweat, then moisten with white wine and reduced espagnole.

  4. Cook on low heat, skimming the sauce as needed.

  5. Finish with a small amount of butter, mixing well.

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.

  1. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Truffle + white winetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together425 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  5. White wine + saucetop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together819 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

Truffles
Provide the main earthy aroma and flavour that defines the ragout.
Butter
Adds richness and carries the truffle aroma while the truffles sweat.
White wine
Adds acidity and moisture that loosens the sauce and lifts the flavour.
Reduced espagnole sauce
Contributes body and savoury depth, thickening the ragout as it reduces.

The step that matters

Sweating the truffles over low heat. Gentle heat softens the truffles and releases their aroma without browning or toughening them. High heat can scorch the butter and dull the delicate flavour, so keep the pan on low throughout.

“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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