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Sauce

Harvey Sauce

A fermented vinegar sauce with anchovies, garlic, and cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,700 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Harvey Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Steep

  1. Combine all ingredients in an earthenware jar.

  2. Cover tightly and let the mixture sit for 1 month, stirring 2-3 times daily.

Strain and bottle

  1. After 1 month, strain the mixture into small bottles.

  2. Cork the bottles securely and store for use.

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.

  1. Mushroom + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,700 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Mushroom + clovetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,663 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Vinegar + garlictop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Malt vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that forms the sauce's base and helps preserve it.
Indian soy
Adds salty, savoury depth that rounds out the sharp vinegar.
Mushroom or walnut vinegar
Adds acidity along with a deeper, earthier flavour.
Anchovies
Dissolve into the liquid over time, adding savoury, umami richness.
Cayenne
Provides heat that mellows and blends into the sauce during steeping.
Garlic
Contributes a pungent aroma that infuses the liquid slowly.

The step that matters

Covering tightly and leaving the full month. Acid, salt and the solids need time to extract and blend. Sealing the jar keeps the mixture from evaporating or spoiling, and a shortened steep leaves the flavours harsh and unmerged.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (malt, vinegar, mushroom, garlic):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against malt, vinegar, mushroom, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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