IllustrationWhy it works: Cream and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 21,446 recipes mention both. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the broth
Take one half of a fried or broiled chicken and put it in a pot with one and one-half gallons of cold water.
Cook slowly for two and one-half hours, skimming well.
Take one quart of pea hulls and drop them in when the water becomes heated.
Finish the soup
Strain the soup through a colander.
Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour and one cup of cream or milk, half an hour before serving.
Add pepper and salt to taste.
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.
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Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cream + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together21,446 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Flour + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together49,477 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together29,941 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Cream and pepper share little aroma chemistry, yet 21,446 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Chicken (in the method)
- Gives the broth its meaty flavor and body.
- Pea hulls
- Release pea flavor into the simmering water.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel to the soup.
The step that matters
Thicken with flour and cream half an hour before serving. Flour starch needs time in hot liquid to swell and thicken, and cooking out its raw taste takes a while. Cream can curdle or separate if it is boiled hard, so keep the soup at a gentle simmer once it is added.
“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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