Name: Joe's Homemade Mushroom Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 20 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups butter; 1 large onion, chopped; 5 pounds sliced fresh mushrooms; 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 2 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 10 cups milk; 10 cups chicken broth; 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley; 1 pinch ground nutmeg, or to taste; 1/4 cup sour cream, or as needed

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

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.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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 (butter, mushroom, flour, pepper, milk, chicken, parsley):

Potatobetter flavor fit
Shallotbetter flavor fit
Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, mushroom, flour, pepper, milk, chicken, parsley. 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).

Joe's Homemade Mushroom Soup