Why it works: Mushroom and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 13,580 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Brown Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the bacon and fry it in a pan until all the fat is rendered.
Remove the bacon and add the flour to the fat, stirring until smooth.
Gradually add the stock, stirring continually until it boils.
Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, mushroom catsup, salt, and pepper.
Remove from heat and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + mushroomtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,253 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sauce + mushroomtop 19% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together4,480 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bacon
- Renders fat that cooks the flour and gives the sauce its savory, smoky flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the rendered fat and stock into a smooth sauce body.
- Stock
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into the sauce.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Adds tangy, savory depth that rounds out the sauce's flavor.
The step that matters
Stirring the stock in gradually. Adding liquid slowly while stirring keeps the flour dispersed, so lumps do not form and the sauce thickens smoothly as it comes to a boil.
“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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