Name: Cock-a-leekie Soup
Ingredients: leeks; chicken; water; salt; pepper; barley

Why it works: Leek and barley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 142 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Cock-a-leekie Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Clean and chop the leeks.
In a pot, combine chopped leeks, chicken, and water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.
Add salt, pepper, and barley.
Cook until the chicken is tender and the barley is cooked.
Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Leek + barleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together142 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Leek + chickentop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together165 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Leek + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together965 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chicken + barleytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together265 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Pepper + barleytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together897 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).