Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Artichoke Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the artichokes
Cook Jerusalem artichokes until very tender.
Press the cooked artichokes through a sieve while hot.
Add two cups of rich milk to each cup of the pulp.
Make the soup
To this amount, melt two tablespoonfuls of butter.
Cook one slice of onion, cut fine, in the melted butter.
Cook slowly, ensuring the butter does not brown.
After a few minutes, remove the onion.
Stir one tablespoonful of flour into the butter, then stir this into the hot milk and add the pulp.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
When well heated, add one or two tablespoonfuls of cream.
Serve with cheese toast, croutons, or hot crackers.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Jerusalem artichokes (in the method)
- Provide the main body and thick texture of the soup once pressed to a pulp.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that gives the soup its smooth, creamy body.
- Butter
- Carries the onion flavour and adds richness to the soup base.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk mixture so the soup becomes smooth and body-rich.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when stirred in at the end.
The step that matters
Cook the butter and onion slowly without browning. Browned butter takes on a nutty, bitter flavour that would change the delicate taste of the soup. Gentle heat softens the onion and lets its flavour infuse the butter without colouring it.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, flour, cream, chicken, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, flour, cream, chicken, 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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