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 ↓
Vegetable 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.
Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat.
Add chopped vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes.
Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper before serving.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Carrot + peppertop 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
- Mixed vegetables
- Provide the main body of the soup and its sweetness as they soften and release flavor.
- Vegetable broth
- Forms the liquid base that carries flavor and gently cooks the vegetables while simmering.
- Olive oil
- Carries flavor from the pot and helps sauté the vegetables without sticking.
The step that matters
Sautéing the vegetables. Cooking the vegetables in oil for a few minutes softens them and begins to bring out their natural sweetness before the liquid is added, which builds a deeper flavor in the finished soup.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, celery, pepper, olive):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, celery, pepper, olive. 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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