Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Place the whole chicken in a large pot.
Cover with water and bring to a boil.
Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
Add salt, pepper, and chopped vegetables.
Simmer for 1-2 hours until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken, shred the meat, and return it to the pot.
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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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whole chicken
- Provides the meat and flavour that make up the body of the soup.
- Vegetables
- Carrots, celery and onion add sweetness and aroma to the broth.
The step that matters
Skim off the foam. Foam that rises during boiling contains coagulated proteins and impurities. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, carrot, celery):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, carrot, celery. 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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