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Sorrel Puree, for Gabnitubes

A puree made from sorrel, butter, flour, broth, milk, and egg yolks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Sorrel Puree, for Gabnitubes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sorrel

  1. Wash the sorrel thoroughly.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the sorrel and water. Season with salt and pepper.

  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until well cooked.

  4. Drain the sorrel in a colander, then rub it through a fine sieve after 20 minutes.

Make the puree

  1. In another saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring well.

  2. Add the sieved sorrel and moisten with broth. Cook for 10 minutes.

  3. Mix in the milk combined with the egg yolks, stirring until thoroughly mixed.

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they 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

Sorrel (in the method)
Provides the main flavour and bright, tangy acidity of the puree.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and giving a smooth mouthfeel.
Flour
Cooked with butter to form a roux that thickens the puree.
Broth
Moistens the sieved sorrel and adds savoury depth to the puree.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the puree's texture.
Egg yolks
Enrich and thicken the puree as they set gently with heat.

The step that matters

Adding the milk and egg yolks. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if they get too hot or are added to a boiling mixture. Combining them with milk first and stirring until smooth helps keep the puree silky and evenly thickened.

“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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