Why it works: Flour and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,024 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then gradually add the hot water, stirring until smooth.
Combine the flour mixture with the melted butter, shaking the saucepan continuously.
Simmer for 2-3 minutes until well mixed.
Add the whole capers and their vinegar to the sauce, stirring to combine.
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.
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Flour + caperstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,024 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,637 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Capers + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,453 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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
- Enriches the sauce with fat, giving it a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the hot water into a smooth sauce body as its starch gelatinizes.
- Whole capers
- Provide the sharp, briny flavor that defines the sauce.
- Vinegar from the capers
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and balances the sauce.
The step that matters
Combining the flour mixture with the butter. Adding the flour mixture to melted butter while shaking the pan keeps the mixture moving so it blends evenly. Stirring steadily helps prevent lumps, since flour clumps when it meets fat and liquid unevenly.
Swap the capers
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, vinegar):
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Capersthe original
- Cinnamonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, 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.
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