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Potato and Leek Soup

A soup made with potatoes, leeks, chicken stock, spices, and cream or milk, finished with chives.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Leek and chive share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Potato and Leek Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Gently fry the potatoes and leeks.

  2. Add coriander powder, pepper, and bay leaf to the oil and butter mixture.

  3. Add chicken stock and cook gently until all ingredients are soft.

  4. Add the cream or milk and stop cooking.

  5. Blend the soup.

Serve

  1. Serve in a bowl with a topping of chives and crusty bread.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

800Calories
45 gProtein
42 gFat
62 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Chives1 tbsp (3g)1
Coriandernot 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. Leek + chivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Potato + chivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together611 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Coriander + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,949 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Potato + leektop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down when cooked and blended to give the soup body and a thick, smooth texture.
Leeks
Soften during gentle frying and add a mild, sweet onion-like flavour.
Chicken stock
Provides the liquid base and savoury depth that carries the other ingredients.
Milk or cream
Adds richness and a creamy mouthfeel, softening the flavour of the soup.
Bay leaf
Releases aromatic compounds into the broth during cooking for a subtle herbal background note.

The step that matters

Add the cream or milk and stop cooking.. Dairy can curdle or separate if it boils hard or cooks too long, so it should be added off the heat or at a gentle simmer and the soup kept from boiling afterward.

Swap the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, leek, butter, chicken, pepper, milk, chive):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Corianderthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, leek, butter, chicken, pepper, milk, chive. 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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