Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Anchovy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the anchovies
Soak the anchovies in cold water for 2 hours.
Pull them apart and simmer in just enough water to cover for 30 minutes.
Strain the liquid into the drawn butter.
Make the sauce
Melt 3 ounces of butter with ½ cup hot water.
Add 1 beaten egg and 1 heaping teaspoon of flour.
Boil for 1 minute, then add the wine and heat gradually to a boil.
Finish and serve
Stew for 5 more minutes and serve with boiled fish.
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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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Anchovies
- Give savory, salty depth that flavors the whole sauce.
- Drawn butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Pale sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the sauce.
- Egg (in the method)
- Egg proteins set as they heat, thickening the sauce and giving it body.
- Flour (in the method)
- Starch swells as it heats, thickening the liquid and giving it body.
The step that matters
Heat gradually after adding the wine. Once the egg and flour are in, the sauce thickens as it heats. Heating gradually keeps the egg proteins from setting too quickly and curdling, so the sauce stays smooth.
“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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