Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Asparagus Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, flour, sweet cream, asparagus water, nutmeg, lemon juice, and sugar.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until it thickens.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt.
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 + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Asparagus + lemontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together704 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Cream + buttertop 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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they set during gentle cooking and add richness.
- Flour
- Stabilizes the sauce by thickening it along with the egg yolks.
- Sweet cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, creamy body.
- Butter
- Stirred in off heat to add fat, flavor and a glossy finish.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness.
The step that matters
Cooking the thickened mixture over low heat. Egg yolks scramble if the heat is too high or they are left unstirred, so the sauce can curdle. Gentle heat and constant stirring let the yolks and flour thicken it smoothly.
Swap the asparagus
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, cream, nutmeg, lemon, sugar, butter):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Asparagusthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, cream, nutmeg, lemon, sugar, butter. 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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