Name: Espagnole, with Wine
Ingredients: same proportions of ingredients as for the preceding Espagnole; 12 small mushrooms, prepared for stewing; 1 tablespoon flour; 3/4 pint hot veal gravy; 1/2 pint Madeira or sherry; cayenne pepper, to taste; coarse sea salt, to taste

Why it works: Mushroom and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,176 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Espagnole, with Wine

Ingredients

same proportions of ingredients as for the preceding Espagnole
12 small mushrooms, prepared for stewing
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 pint hot veal gravy
1/2 pint Madeira or sherry
cayenne pepper, to taste
coarse sea salt, to taste

Directions

Fry the mushrooms gently in a stewpan until they are reddish all around.
Stir in the flour and lightly brown it.
Add the hot veal gravy in small portions, letting each boil before adding the next.
Pour in the Madeira or sherry and let the sauce boil gently for 30 minutes.
Add cayenne and salt if needed, then strain the sauce.
Skim off any fat from the surface and serve hot.

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.

Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,176 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + vealtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,446 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Sherry + peppertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Mushroom + flourtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,253 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).