Name: To Make Caper Sauce
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons capers, chopped; 2 tablespoons butter, melted; 1 tablespoon vinegar

Why it works: Capers and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,637 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Make Caper Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons capers, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions

Chop the capers.
Combine the chopped capers with melted butter and vinegar.
Serve the sauce with boiled leg of mutton.

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.

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.

Capers + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,637 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Capers + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,453 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,513 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Capers: Provide the sharp, briny flavour that defines the sauce.
Butter: Adds richness and a smooth, fatty mouthfeel to the sauce.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and cuts the richness of the butter.