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Butter, Whip Of, for Asparagus

A whipped butter sauce for asparagus.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Butter, Whip Of, for Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the egg yolks, water, salt, and chili vinegar in a saucepan. Mix well.

  2. Add the butter to the mixture.

  3. Place the saucepan in a larger pot of hot water over heat.

  4. Whip the ingredients together until smooth and frothy.

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. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  3. Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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

Egg yolks
Emulsify with butter and set gently to form a thick, creamy structure.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the whip a smooth, silky texture.
Water
Adds moisture that helps the yolks whip into a looser, frothy consistency.
Chili vinegar
Adds acidity and sharpness that balances the richness of the butter and yolks.

The step that matters

Whip over gentle heat. Egg yolks begin to set around 65 to 70°C. If the water bath is too hot or the mixture overheats, the yolks scramble and the sauce turns grainy instead of smooth and frothy. Keep the heat moderate and whip constantly.

“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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