Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓
Gooseberry Sauce for Mackerel
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the stalks and tops from the gooseberries and wash them well.
Cover the gooseberries with cold water and boil gently until tender.
Drain the gooseberries.
Make the sauce
Mix the drained gooseberries with melted butter and flour.
Press the gooseberries through a sieve with a wooden spoon.
In a saucepan, stir the pressed gooseberries with sugar and fresh butter over low heat.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit body and tartness that define the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the pressed fruit into a smooth, body-rich sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, glossy mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharp acidity of the gooseberries.
The step that matters
Pressing the gooseberries through a sieve. Pressing breaks down the cooked fruit and removes skins and seeds, giving a smooth texture. Fruit that is undercooked will resist pressing and leave the sauce grainy, while overcooked fruit can turn watery.
“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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