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 ↓
A Scotch Rarebit
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, cook the butter and flour together until bubbling.
Add the milk and stir until smooth.
Mix in the anchovy paste and cayenne, then add the chopped eggs.
Finish and serve
Simmer for three minutes and serve over toast.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Eggs
- Adds substance and a firmer, heartier texture to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and cooks with flour to form the thickening base.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk once cooked in the butter, giving the sauce body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a smooth sauce.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds savoury, salty depth that gives the sauce its character.
The step that matters
Adding the milk. Flour starch thickens best when the milk is added gradually while stirring. Pouring it in all at once can leave lumps, so the sauce will not turn smooth.
“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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