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Soup

Patterned Soups

Two soups, one watercress and one carrot, served side by side in shallow bowls so each fills half the plate.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 321 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Patterned Soups

serves 6
Time15-20 minutes simmering

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soups

  1. You can make this soup 1 - 2 days in advance and chill until required.

  2. Make both soups in the same way.

  3. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a low heat and cook the onion for 15 minutes until tender, stirring frequently to prevent browning.

  4. Add the vegetable stock, watercress and potato or the carrots, salt and thyme or dill.

  5. Bring to the boil.

  6. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

  7. Blend in a liquidizer or food processor.

  8. Or, if necessary, push it through a sieve.

  9. Add enough milk to each soup to give a thick pouring consistency.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, reheat both soups in separate saucepans.

  2. Pour into separate jugs or use saucepans with lips.

  3. Carefully pour at the same time with each jug into either side of 6 shallow soup bowls so that each soup fills one half of the plate.

  4. Pour a little cream along the line of the divide and garnish with chopped chives, if wished.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

510Calories
15 gProtein
22 gFat
67 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Watercress1 cup (34g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Dill Seed5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Soupnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Carrot + dilltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together321 recipes

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

  2. Thyme + dilltop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together164 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  3. Thyme + carrottop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Potato + dilltop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together423 recipes

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

  5. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Onions
Soften and sweeten the base of both soups as they cook gently in oil.
Potato
Adds starch that thickens the watercress soup and gives it a smooth body.
Carrots
Provide sweetness and body to the carrot soup once simmered and blended.
Watercress
Gives the green soup its peppery flavour and colour.
Milk
Adds richness and moisture, loosening the blended soups to a pouring consistency.

The step that matters

Cook the onion gently. Over a low heat with frequent stirring, the onion softens and sweetens without browning. Browning would add bitter, toasted notes that clash with the delicate green and orange soups.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (watercress, potato, thyme, carrot, dill, milk):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Beetrootfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against watercress, potato, thyme, carrot, dill, milk. 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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