Name: Caper Sauce for Fish
Ingredients: ½ pint very rich melted butter; 6 tablespoons strong veal gravy or jelly; 1 tablespoon essence of anchovies; chili vinegar or cayenne to taste; 2 to 3 tablespoons capers

Why it works: Butter and capers are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,637 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Caper Sauce for Fish

Ingredients

½ pint very rich melted butter
6 tablespoons strong veal gravy or jelly
1 tablespoon essence of anchovies
chili vinegar or cayenne to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons capers

Directions

In a bowl, combine the melted butter, veal gravy, essence of anchovies, and chili vinegar or cayenne.
Add the capers and mix well.
Serve warm over fish.

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.

Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,637 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vinegar + caperstop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,453 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Veal + caperstop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together198 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,381 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,513 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter: Melted butter gives the sauce its rich body and smooth, fatty mouthfeel.
Veal gravy: Adds savoury depth and body, thickening the sauce with gelatin from the jelly.
Essence of anchovies: Adds a salty, savoury depth that rounds out the sauce.
Capers: Add a sharp, briny acidity that cuts through the richness of the butter.