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Celeriac and Roast Hazelnut Soup with Soda Bread Focaccia

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Hazelnut and flour work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 453 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep1 hr
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Spread the fresh hazelnuts and the 2 tbsp hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes until golden. Rub off loose skins in a clean towel, then roughly chop the 2 tbsp hazelnuts for garnish and set aside.

  2. Grease a baking tray. Mix the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Stir in the buttermilk with a knife until a soft dough forms, adding a splash of water if it is too dry.

  3. Pat the dough into a round on the greased tray, about 2cm (3/4in) thick. Brush with olive oil, press dimples into the surface and sprinkle with the Maldon sea salt. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.

  4. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the chopped onions and finely chopped potatoes for 5 minutes until softened but not coloured.

  5. Add the peeled, diced celeriac and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until the celeriac is very tender. Vegetarians can use vegetable stock.

  6. Add the roasted hazelnuts from the first step, excluding the garnish, to the pan. Blend the soup until smooth, then stir in the milk and cream. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and reheat gently without boiling.

  7. Finely chop the parsley. Ladle the soup into bowls, scatter over the reserved chopped hazelnuts and parsley, and serve with warm focaccia.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Hazelnut + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together453 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Olive + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,688 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Potato + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,303 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Flour + buttermilktop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together3,667 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (hazelnut, olive, flour, buttermilk, butter, potato, pepper):

  1. Chivebetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against hazelnut, olive, flour, buttermilk, butter, potato, pepper. 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).