Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Anchovy Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the anchovies
Scrape the skin from the anchovies and remove the bones.
Pound the anchovies in a mortar until smooth.
Rub the anchovies through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon.
Make the butter
Return the anchovies to the mortar and add the butter, cayenne, nutmeg, and mace.
Beat the mixture until thoroughly blended.
If serving cold, mold the butter into small shapes and refrigerate until firm.
For a fish sauce, mix 2-3 ounces of the butter with 1 teaspoon of flour and a few tablespoons of cold water or pale veal stock, stirring until it boils.
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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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Mace + rosetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together498 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Nutmeg + rosetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,067 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
- Anchovies
- Provide the salty, savory fish flavor that defines the butter.
- Butter
- Carries the anchovy flavor and gives the spread its rich, smooth body.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the fish sauce when stirred into the butter and liquid.
The step that matters
Rubbing the anchovies through a sieve. Pressing the pounded anchovies through a fine sieve removes remaining fibers and lumps, so the butter blends smooth instead of gritty.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, nutmeg, rose):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, nutmeg, rose. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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