Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Boil beef or mutton scraps in water until the stock is extracted.
Strain the liquid into a pot.
Cook the soup
Wash and scrape the potatoes, then cut them into quarters with the onions.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt, and boil for 1.5 hours in the strained liquid.
Press the mixture through a colander and return the soup to a boil for a short time.
Add ¼ pound of butter after straining the potatoes.
Finish and serve
Just before serving, stir in ½ pint of cream or good milk.
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.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
- Potatoes
- Their starch thickens the soup and gives it body when pressed through a colander.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, round mouthfeel.
- Cream or milk
- Adds creaminess and richness to the finished soup.
- Onions
- Release sweetness and aroma as they boil in the stock.
- Beef or mutton scraps
- Release gelatin and meaty flavour into the water as stock.
The step that matters
Stir in the cream or milk just before serving. Dairy kept at a long boil can curdle or separate, leaving a grainy texture. Adding it last and only heating it gently keeps the soup smooth and creamy.
“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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