Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Purde of Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Wash and drain the mushrooms, then remove the stalks and skins.
Cook and purée
In a stewpan, melt a little butter and add the mushrooms.
Cook slowly for about 30 minutes.
Add sauce to complete the cooking.
Pass the mixture through a tamis.
Finish the purée with either cream or brown sauce as needed.
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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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mushroom + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,500 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms
- Form the bulk of the sauce and, once cooked down and puréed, give it body and flavour.
- Butter
- Fat that softens the mushrooms and carries their flavour during slow cooking.
- Cream
- Adds richness and smoothness to the finished purée.
- Brown sauce
- Adds savoury depth and colour to the finished purée.
The step that matters
Cook slowly for about 30 minutes. Slow cooking draws out moisture from the mushrooms and concentrates their flavour. Rushing over high heat can scorch the butter and leave the mushrooms tough, so the purée tastes flat.
“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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