Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Stewed Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut off the underground part of the mushroom stems.
Wash the mushrooms carefully and remove the skin from the tops.
Stew and serve
Place the mushrooms in a stewpan with salt and no water.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter for each quart of mushrooms and a little cayenne pepper.
Cook over high heat for 20 to 30 minutes.
Transfer to a covered dish and serve.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Mushrooms
- Release their own liquid as they cook, which becomes the stewing liquid and keeps them moist.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, savoury flavour.
The step that matters
Cooking over high heat with no water. Mushrooms are mostly water and release it as they cook. Since no water is added, that released liquid is the only stewing liquid. Over high heat it reduces while the mushrooms soften. If the pan dries before they are tender, they can scorch.
“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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