Name: Vegetable Soup
Ingredients: a quart of water one hour; one potato; one turnip; one onion; one car- rot; salt

Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Slice one potato, one turnip, one onion, one carrot, and a little celery.

Cook the soup

Boil in a quart of water for one hour.

Serve

Toast some bread nicely.
Cut the toast into small pieces and lay in a bowl.
Add salt to the soup, and pour over the toast.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

239Calories

7 gProtein

0 gFat

55 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Turnip	1 medium (122g)	34
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

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

By Hodgson, Mary, fl. 1855. 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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,585 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Potato + turniptop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together562 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Potato: Adds body and starch that thickens the broth as it cooks.
Turnip: Contributes savory flavour and some body to the broth during the long simmer.
Onion: Builds the savory base flavour of the broth as it cooks.
Carrot (in the method): Adds mild sweetness and colour to the broth.