Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Anchovy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine boiling water and flour.
Add butter and anchovy.
Bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + anchovytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,753 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the hot liquid, giving body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the finished sauce.
- Anchovy
- Contributes a salty, savoury depth of flavour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Flour thickens only when its starch is heated and swells in the liquid. Constant stirring keeps the flour dispersed so it does not clump, giving a smooth sauce rather than lumps.
“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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