Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cream of Celery Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the celery and onion
Boil the sliced onion and the celery in a pint of water for 30 minutes.
Make the soup
Bring the milk to a boil in a separate pot.
Mix the tablespoonful of flour with a little cold milk to make a slurry.
Add the flour slurry to the boiling milk and cook until thickened.
Mash the boiled celery in the water it was cooked in and stir it into the thickened milk.
Add the tablespoonful of butter, salt, and pepper; stir until the butter melts.
Strain the soup and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Celery | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| 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.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Celery
- Provides the main flavour and body of the soup once cooked and mashed.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, velvety soup when cooked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- Onion
- Adds savoury aroma and depth to the cooking water.
The step that matters
Adding the flour slurry to the milk. Flour must be mixed with cold liquid first so it disperses evenly; added dry or to hot milk it clumps, and the soup stays lumpy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, celery, milk, flour, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, celery, milk, flour, 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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