Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sardine Canape
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
In a bowl, combine sardines, dry mustard, salt, red pepper, essence of anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, egg yolks, and butter. Mix thoroughly until well combined.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Serve
Spread generously on small toasted biscuits or squares of toasted bread.
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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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and give it a smooth, rich body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, spreadable texture and rich flavour.
- Sardines
- Provide the main savoury, oily fish flavour of the spread.
The step that matters
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Pressing the mixture through a fine sieve breaks down fibres and lumps, giving the smooth, even texture a spread needs. Skipping it leaves the paste grainy and uneven.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sauce, egg, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sauce, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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