Why it works: Cream and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Simple White Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Bring the stock to a boil.
In a bowl, stir the egg yolk with the cream.
Strain the egg mixture into the boiling stock.
Cook for a few moments without boiling.
Season to taste and serve.
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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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Stock
- Forms the liquid base that the egg and cream thicken.
- Egg yolk
- Thickens the sauce and gives it a smooth, rich body when gently heated.
- Cream
- Adds richness and softens the sauce's texture.
The step that matters
Cook without boiling. Egg yolk proteins set when heated, so if the sauce boils after the egg is added, it can curdle or turn grainy. Holding it just below a boil keeps it smooth and thickened.
“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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