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Mushroom Soup

A creamy soup of beef stock, onions, mushrooms, and butter, finished with whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Mushroom Soup

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. In a pot, combine beef stock, onion, and parsley; simmer for 30 minutes.

  2. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for 20 minutes.

Thicken and finish

  1. In a separate bowl, blend butter and flour; gradually stir in milk until smooth.

  2. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and kitchen bouquet.

  3. Stir in the butter‑flour mixture and heat through.

  4. Serve hot, topped with whipped cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef stock
Provides the main liquid and savory base of the soup.
Mushrooms
Supply the main earthy flavor and body of the soup.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the thickening roux.
Flour
Thickens the soup by forming a roux with the butter and milk.
Milk
Adds creaminess and moisture, making the soup smoother and richer.

The step that matters

Blend the butter and flour smoothly into the milk. Adding the milk gradually while stirring keeps the flour from clumping, so the thickened soup stays smooth rather than lumpy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, parsley, mushroom, butter, flour, milk, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, parsley, mushroom, butter, flour, milk, pepper. 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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