Why it works: Cream and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,481 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil nine good-sized potatoes and one onion in two quarts of water.
When soft, strain and rub through a sieve.
Let the liquid come to a boil.
Add salt.
Serve
Put one cup of sweet cream in the soup tureen.
Pour the hot liquid over the sweet cream, serve immediately.
Flavor with extract of celery or celery salt.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Soup | 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.
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.
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Cream + potatotop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Break down when soft and rubbed through a sieve, giving the soup its body and thickness.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, mellow texture when the hot liquid is poured over it.
The step that matters
Pour the hot liquid over the sweet cream, serve immediately. The cream is added to the tureen rather than boiled into the soup, so it stays fresh and smooth. Serving right away keeps the soup hot and prevents the cream from separating or thinning as it sits.
“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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