Name: Indian Sauce
Ingredients: ½ pint Brown Sauce (No. 22); 1 teaspoon chopped green capsicums; 1 teaspoon chopped gherkins; 1 teaspoon chopped chives; 1 teaspoon mixed pickles; 1 teaspoon curry paste; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Why it works: Capsicum and chive work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 695 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Indian Sauce

Ingredients

½ pint Brown Sauce (No. 22)
1 teaspoon chopped green capsicums
1 teaspoon chopped gherkins
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1 teaspoon mixed pickles
1 teaspoon curry paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Directions

Combine the brown sauce with chopped green capsicums, gherkins, chives, mixed pickles, curry paste, and Worcestershire sauce in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook for one minute.
Remove from heat and serve.

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.

Capsicum + chivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together695 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sauce + capsicumtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,011 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + chivetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together461 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sauce: Forms the base of the sauce, providing most of its body and savory flavor.
Curry paste: Adds spice and aromatic depth that defines the Indian character of the sauce.
Gherkins: Contribute acidity and a tangy bite that cuts through the richness of the base.
Mixed pickles: Add sharpness and acidity, along with concentrated savory and tangy flavors.