Why it works: Saffron and pepper work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 781 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Curry Sauce, Ou a V Indienne
Ingredients
Directions
In a stewpan, combine reduced velouté and consommé.
Add curry powder and saffron boiled in a small pan.
Rub the saffron through a sieve into the sauce.
Let it boil and skim off any foam.
If not hot enough, add a little Cayenne pepper.
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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Saffron + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together781 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Reduced velouté
- Forms the thick base of the sauce, giving body and a creamy mouthfeel.
- Consommé
- Adds savoury liquid that thins the velouté into a pourable sauce.
- Curry powder
- Provides the spiced, aromatic flavour that defines the sauce.
- Saffron
- Adds aroma and a golden colour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Skimming the foam as it boils. Foam rising from a boiling sauce carries impurities and cloudiness that would dull its clarity and flavour. Removing it as it forms keeps the sauce smooth and clean-tasting.
“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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