1918 Cream of Onion and Cheese Soup

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. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,426 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Onion + cheesetop 16% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,849 recipes

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

5. Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together32,460 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Onions

Provide the main savory sweetness and flavor base as they cook down and brown.

Flour

Thickens the milk into a smooth soup body when cooked with the fat and stirred in.

Milk

Forms the liquid base that the thickened roux-onion mixture becomes a creamy soup in.

Cheese

Adds richness and savory flavor, melting into the soup to give body and creaminess.

Fat

Carries the onion flavor and helps cook the onions and form the flour mixture.

The step that matters

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, cheese, pepper):

1. Capsicumfits better
2. Potatofits better
3. Spinachfits better
4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.