Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and 122,807 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
German Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a small saucepan, combine the egg yolks, sugar, and sherry.
Whisk well until the mixture thickens.
Serve immediately.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sherrytop 29% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat, giving it body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sherry's acidity.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma, flavouring the sauce.
The step that matters
Whisk well until the mixture thickens. Egg yolks can scramble if overheated. Constant whisking spreads heat evenly so the yolks thicken smoothly into a sauce.
“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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