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 ↓
Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Remove the stems and skin the mushrooms.
Place the mushrooms in a saucepan and cover with water.
Cook until tender, then drain carefully to avoid breaking them.
Make the sauce
In a bowl, mix the butter and flour until smooth.
Add the sweet cream, salt, nutmeg, and mace to the saucepan.
Stir in the butter and flour mixture.
Boil until the sauce thickens.
Serve
Serve with boiled or broiled chicken.
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).
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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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the sauce a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce when boiled with the butter and cream.
- Sweet cream
- Forms the body of the sauce and adds richness and smoothness.
- Fresh mushrooms
- Provide the main earthy flavor and the body of the sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring in the butter and flour mixture. Flour thickens only when heated sufficiently in liquid. Adding it to the cream and then boiling ensures the starch swells and the sauce thickens without lumps or a raw floury taste.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, butter, flour, cream, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, flour, cream, nutmeg. 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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