Why it works: Anchovy and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,697 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Anchovy Butter
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the anchovy paste and fresh butter.
Add cayenne, coarse sea salt, and black pepper to taste.
Pound the ingredients together until well mixed.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.
Transfer to a small jar for storage.
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.
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Anchovy + peppertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Anchovy paste
- Provides the savory, salty depth that defines the butter's flavour.
- Fresh butter
- Carries the flavourings and gives the spread a smooth, rich texture.
The step that matters
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve. Pressing the butter through a fine sieve breaks up any lumps and fibres, giving a smooth, even spread without streaks of anchovy.
“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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