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Potato Soup

A creamy potato soup made with potatoes, onion, celery, milk, butter, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Potato Soup

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soup

  1. Peel the potatoes and soak them in cold water for one hour.

  2. Put the potatoes into boiling water and cook until very soft; drain and mash.

  3. Cook the minced onion and celery in the milk in a double boiler, adding salt, white pepper, celery salt, and cayenne pepper.

  4. Strain the milk mixture and add it to the mashed potatoes.

Finish and serve

  1. Cook the butter and flour together, stir the mixture into the boiling soup.

  2. Let the soup boil for five minutes, then serve hot.

  3. If a richer soup is desired, use one quart of milk instead of one pint.

  4. Just before serving, add two eggs, well beaten.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

552Calories
21 gProtein
26 gFat
63 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Celery + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Mashed to form the body and thick, starchy base of the soup.
Milk
Forms the creamy liquid that carries the onion and celery flavour through the soup.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Eggs
Beaten in at the end to enrich the soup and lightly thicken it when heated.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten eggs. Eggs thicken when heated gently but curdle into grainy bits if the soup boils after they go in. Add them off the heat or at a low simmer, stirring constantly.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, milk, celery, butter, potato, egg, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, milk, celery, butter, potato, egg, pepper. 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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