Why it works: Turnip and parsnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 590 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Place the beef and soup bone in a large pot with the cold water and salt.
Cook for 5.5 to 6 hours.
Strain the soup through a colander.
Return the good meat to the pot and discard bones, skin, and gristle.
Add the vegetables
Prepare the vegetables.
Add the vegetables to the pot.
Boil gently until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
Remove the vegetables.
Mash the vegetables.
Return the mashed vegetables to the soup. Boil for one minute.
Season lightly. Serve.
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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Turnip + parsniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together590 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + parsniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,097 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + cabbagetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 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
- Fresh lean beef
- Provides meat flavor and savory richness as it simmers into the broth.
- Soup bone
- Adds body and depth of flavor to the broth during the long cook.
- Assorted vegetables
- Supply the bulk of the soup and, once mashed, thicken the broth and add texture.
The step that matters
Boil gently until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked. A hard boil can break vegetables apart unevenly and scorch the bottom of the pot, while a gentle simmer cooks them evenly and keeps the broth clear. Stirring occasionally prevents sticking.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, potato, carrot, turnip, parsnip, corn):
- Leekfits better
- Beetrootfits better
- Okrafits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, potato, carrot, turnip, parsnip, corn. 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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