Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 41,516 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Espagnole, or Brown Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the roux
Melt the butter in a bain-marie or milk saucepan.
Stir in the flour that has been dried in the oven.
Keep stirring until the mixture is a bright chestnut color.
Make the sauce
Slowly add broth to achieve a thin cream consistency.
Let it simmer for 1½ hours, skimming occasionally.
Bring to a boil, ensuring it doesn't stick to the sides or bottom.
Finish and store
When thickened to a cream consistency, pass through a tamis and store in a jar.
Add a small piece of butter on top to prevent a skin from forming.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, and forms the base of the roux with the flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the hot fat and liquid.
- Broth
- Supplies the liquid that, combined with the roux, forms the sauce's body and flavour.
The step that matters
Stirring the roux to a bright chestnut color. Flour darkens steadily in hot fat, so colour and nutty flavour develop gradually. Too little heat leaves a raw, pasty taste, while overcooking turns it bitter and weakens its thickening power.
“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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