Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mock Turtle Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Soak one quart of black beans overnight.
Boil the soaked beans until soft, then mash them through a sieve.
Make the soup
Add the mashed beans to two quarts of strong stock and bring to a boil for half an hour.
Add half a teaspoonful of ground cloves, pepper, and cinnamon mixed in equal quantities, one teaspoonful of brown sugar, and salt to taste.
Serve
In the soup tureen, slice one lemon, chop two hard-boiled eggs, add half a dozen force meat balls, and a glass of sherry.
Pour the hot soup over these ingredients and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Black Bean | 1/2 cup canned (120g) drained | 114 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Cloves | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| 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.
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.
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Beans + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together908 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 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
- Black beans
- Break down into a thick, smooth body that gives the soup its character.
- Strong stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavour of the whole soup.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add a firm, chopped texture and richness to the finished soup.
- Brown sugar
- Adds a touch of sweetness that balances the spices and sharpness.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and brightness that lifts the rich soup.
The step that matters
Mashing the beans through a sieve. Beans must be fully soft before mashing, or the purée stays grainy and the soup loses its smooth body. Pressing through a sieve removes skins and lumps that would otherwise cloud the texture.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, clove, lemon, egg, pepper):
- Chickpeafits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Milletfits about as well
- Beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, lemon, 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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