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Rich Brown Sauce

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,737 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Rich Brown Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Peel and chop the shallot and mushroom.

  2. In a small saucepan, combine the shallot, mushroom, and sherry.

  3. Cover and let infuse on low heat for five minutes.

  4. Add the meat extract and brown sauce; bring to a boil.

  5. Serve hot, adding chopped parsley if desired.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Sherry + mushroomtop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Mushroom + parsleytop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together6,132 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Sauce + shallottop 14% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,303 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, sherry, mushroom, shallot):

  1. Capersbetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Tarragonbetter flavor fit
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, sherry, mushroom, shallot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

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