Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Stewed Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the mushrooms, remove the stems, scrape, and cut them into pieces.
Peel the caps and break them into pieces.
Cook and serve
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle with flour; once blended, add the milk or stock.
Cook slowly for 5 to 15 minutes or until tender; season and serve on toast, garnished with toast points and parsley.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,231 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Mushrooms
- Form the main body of the dish and release moisture that becomes part of the stew.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps soften the mushrooms as they cook.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a smooth, creamy sauce.
- Milk or stock
- Forms the liquid base that becomes the creamy stewing sauce.
The step that matters
Cook slowly after adding the milk or stock. Simmering gently keeps the milk from scorching or curdling and lets the flour fully thicken the sauce while the mushrooms become tender.
“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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