Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,046 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the vegetables: cut carrots and turnips into small pieces, slice onions, dice leeks, and chop lettuce.
Make the soup
In a large kettle, boil down the beef essence to half its volume.
Add beef stock to the kettle and mix well.
Stir in mushroom ketchup, salt, white pepper, mace, and curry powder.
Boil the mixture for one hour, stirring well.
After cooking, transfer the soup to a large container for canning.
Can and process
Fill 2-lb cans with the soup, allowing for 1 oz loss during processing.
Wipe the cans, cap them, and leave the center vents open.
Process the cans in a retort for 1 hour and 45 minutes at 2 pounds pressure.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Turnip + leektop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,046 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Beef + mushroomtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,231 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Carrot + turniptop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,001 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Turnip + lettucetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together526 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Leek + lettucetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together217 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef essence
- Reduced by boiling to concentrate the meaty flavor that forms the soup's base.
- Beef stock
- Adds liquid and savory body to the soup.
- Carrots
- Softens during long boiling, adding body and mild sweetness.
- Curry powder
- Provides the warm, spiced aroma that defines the soup.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds concentrated savory depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Retort processing time and pressure. This soup is low-acid and must be processed under pressure for the full time. Shorter time or lower pressure can leave heat-resistant bacteria alive, risking spoilage or foodborne illness in the sealed cans.
Flavor stand-ins for the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, onion, leek, beef, mushroom, ketchup):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, onion, leek, beef, mushroom, ketchup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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