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Quick Potato Soup

A quick potato soup made with sliced potatoes, milk, tapioca, butter, salt, pepper, and topped with whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Quick Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soup

  1. Slice potatoes very thin.

  2. Cover sliced potatoes with hot water, add a little salt, and cook quickly.

  3. When potatoes are tender, mash quickly.

  4. Add milk and let boil up.

  5. Season with butter, pepper, and salt.

Serve

  1. Serve in hot cups.

  2. Top each cup with a spoonful of whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

218Calories
5 gProtein
6 gFat
39 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)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 Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [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.

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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  2. Cream + potatotop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Potatoes
Form the body of the soup, thickening it as they are mashed.
Milk (in the method)
Adds creaminess and softens the flavour of the soup.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Whipped cream
Adds a cool, light, creamy topping to each cup.

The step that matters

When potatoes are tender, mash quickly.. Potatoes starch releases more when they are overworked, which can make the soup gluey. Mashing while they are hot and just tender gives a smoother texture.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Horseradishfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, 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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