Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,557 recipes mention both. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
A Very Fine Mushroom Sauce for Fowls or Fatbits
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Wash and pick the mushrooms, rubbing them with salt to remove the tender skin.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine the mushrooms, salt, nutmeg, mace, cream, and butter mixed with flour.
Boil the mixture and stir until done.
Serve
Pour the sauce around the cooked chickens and garnish with lemon.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Young mushrooms
- Provide the main body and earthy flavour of the sauce.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body, thickening as it reduces with the flour.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour through the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the cream and butter into a smooth sauce as it boils.
The step that matters
Boiling and stirring the sauce. Flour thickens liquid only when it is heated enough and stirred to prevent lumps. Stirring keeps the flour evenly dispersed, and boiling activates its starch so the sauce becomes smooth rather than grainy or thin.
Flavor stand-ins for the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, nutmeg, cream, butter, flour):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Marjorambetter flavor fit
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, nutmeg, cream, butter, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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