Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Anchovy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the anchovies in water for about 10 minutes.
Strain the mixture and let the liquid cool.
Mix the cooled liquid with flour and butter.
Stir over low heat until it just comes to a boil.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Anchovies
- Give the liquid a salty, savory flavor that becomes the sauce's character.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce as it heats.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat until it just comes to a boil. Flour needs heat to swell and thicken the liquid, but high heat or prolonged boiling can scorch the butter and cause lumps. Low, gentle stirring keeps the sauce smooth 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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