Why it works: Onion and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,912 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Onion-Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the onions
Peel the onions and soak them in saltwater to prevent discoloration.
Boil the onions in plenty of water, changing the water if they are very strong.
Chop the onions finely and press them through a sieve using a wooden spoon.
Make the sauce
Stir the onion puree into melted butter and heat the sauce.
Alternatively, roast the onions and then mash them.
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.
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions
- Form the bulk of the sauce, providing the flavor and the body once pureed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the onion puree.
The step that matters
Changing the water when boiling the onions. Onions release strong sulfur compounds when cooked, which can make the sauce harsh and bitter. Fresh water and plenty of it dilute and carry away these compounds, giving a milder, sweeter flavor.
“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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