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Spring Soup

A veal broth with peas, asparagus, spinach, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 274 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Spring Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Break the veal bones and cut the knuckle into pieces.

  2. Combine veal and water in a soup pot with calves' feet and ham (if using).

  3. Simmer over moderate heat for several hours, skimming regularly, until the veal is tender.

  4. Strain the stock and store in a stone pan if not using immediately.

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Boil the green peas and asparagus tops until tender.

  2. Pound the spinach to extract 1 teacup of juice.

Finish the soup

  1. Reheat the stock, add peas, asparagus, and spinach juice, stirring well.

  2. Incorporate the butter rolled in flour, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and serve.

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.

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. Asparagus + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together274 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  2. Peas + asparagustop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + spinachtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Peas + spinachtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together550 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Pepper + asparagustop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Veal knuckle
Breaks down during long simmering to give the stock body and rich flavor.
Calves' feet
Release gelatin into the stock, giving it a fuller, silkier texture.
Green peas
Add sweetness and soft body to the soup as they cook until tender.
Asparagus tops
Contribute a fresh, green vegetable flavor and tender texture to the soup.
Butter
Enriches the soup with fat and mouthfeel, thickened lightly by the flour.
Flour
Thickens the butter and stock slightly, giving the soup a smoother body.

The step that matters

Incorporate the butter rolled in flour, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and serve. Flour must be fully cooked to thicken without tasting raw, and butter can separate or scorch if overheated, so bring to a boil briefly and then stop heating.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, pepper, asparagus, spinach, butter, flour):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pepper, asparagus, spinach, butter, flour. 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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