Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Veal Soup with Macaroni
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Combine 3 pounds of veal and 4 quarts of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
Cook the macaroni
Boil ½ pound of macaroni in a separate pot with enough water to cover it until tender.
Drain the macaroni, stir in a little butter, and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Combine and serve
Add the cooked macaroni and its cooking water to the veal stock.
Optionally add onions or celery for flavor.
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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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Gives the broth its meaty body and rich savory flavor as it simmers in water.
- Macaroni
- Adds starch and bulk, turning the broth into a hearty soup with substance.
- Butter
- Adds fat and a rounded richness to the cooked macaroni.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, 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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