Why it works: Jerusalem artichoke and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 116 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Artichoke Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the purée
Press the cooked Jerusalem artichokes through a sieve while hot.
Make the soup
In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the chopped onion. Cook slowly without browning.
After a few minutes, remove the onion from the butter.
Stir in the flour and then gradually add the hot milk, mixing well.
Add the artichoke pulp and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the mixture thoroughly, then stir in the cream before serving.
Serve
Serve with cheese toast, croutons, or hot crackers.
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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Jerusalem artichoke + flourtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together116 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Jerusalem artichoke + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together140 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Jerusalem artichokes
- Provide the main body and earthy flavour of the soup once puréed.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that gives the soup its smooth body.
- Butter
- Carries the onion's flavour and adds richness to the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk so the soup becomes smooth and velvety.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a softer, silkier texture at the end.
The step that matters
Cook the onion slowly without browning. Gentle heat softens the onion and draws out its sweetness; browning gives harsher, bitter flavours that would carry into the whole soup.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (jerusalem artichoke, milk, butter, flour, pepper, cream, cheese):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against jerusalem artichoke, milk, butter, flour, pepper, cream, cheese. 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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