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 ↓
Potato and Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Sauté onion lightly in oil.
Add carrots and celery and continue to sauté.
Add flour and continue to sauté.
Add tomato sauce and a few tablespoons stock slowly, stirring continuously. Cook over low heat until the sauce is ready.
Cook the soup
Boil the remaining stock and add cabbage.
Add vinegar and cook for 15 minutes, then add potatoes and beet roots and cook for another 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and serve hot, covered with a tablespoon of cream for each dish.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Beet Root | 1/2 cup (85g) | 35 |
| Carrot | 1 medium (61g) | 25 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Celery Stalks | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Meat | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Celery + cabbagetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,840 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 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
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce base so the soup has body.
- Potatoes
- Soften and add starch that gives the soup substance.
- Cabbage
- Provides the main bulk and tender texture of the soup.
- Cream
- Adds richness and softens the sharpness of the vinegar and tomato.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances sweetness.
The step that matters
Cook the sauce over low heat while stirring in the stock. Adding liquid slowly while stirring keeps the flour from clumping, so the base thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, carrot, celery, flour, tomato, sauce, meat):
- Turnipfits better
- Okrafits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, carrot, celery, flour, tomato, sauce, meat. 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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