Name: Cold Chicken
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter; 1½ cups stock; 1 tablespoon flour; 1 anchovy (or anchovy sauce); 1 small onion; 1 tablespoon port wine

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 ↓

Cold Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut the chicken into pieces.
Simmer the chicken in the stock for 30 minutes.
Season to taste.

Make the sauce

Rub the butter into the flour.
Add the butter‑flour mixture to the stock and stir until it boils and thickens.
Mince the onion and anchovy.
Add the wine (or tomato sauce).

Finish and serve

Stew all together for another 30 minutes.
Garnish with small pieces of fried bread.

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 + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + port winetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,499 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,697 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Anchovy + oniontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,263 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Chicken (in the method): Provides the main protein that becomes tender during the long simmer.
Butter: Coats the flour so it blends smoothly and adds richness to the sauce.
Flour: Thickens the stock into a smooth, cohesive sauce as it boils.
Anchovy: Adds a savoury, salty depth that rounds out the sauce.
Port wine: Adds acidity and sweetness that brighten and deepen the sauce.

The step that matters

Adding the butter‑flour mixture to the stock. If the mixture is added without being rubbed smooth, or the stock is not kept stirring, flour lumps form and do not dissolve. Stirring until it boils lets the starch granules swell and thicken the liquid evenly.