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Soups Without Stock

A milk-based soup foundation used for making various soups without stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Clarke, Mary Lamson. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato 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 ↓

Soups Without Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine milk, butter, chopped onion, celery, salt, white pepper, cayenne, and celery salt in a double boiler.

  2. Cook the mixture for 20 minutes.

Thicken

  1. In a separate pan, cook flour and butter together for 5 minutes, being careful not to brown it.

  2. Pour the flour-butter mixture into the soup.

Finish and vary

  1. Add seasoning and finish the soup as desired.

  2. Add mashed boiled potatoes to the foundation; strain through a sieve into a hot tureen for potato soup.

  3. Add one pint stewed and sifted celery to the foundation; strain over one egg beaten to a cream, stirring well for celery soup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1052Calories
34 gProtein
32 gFat
158 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
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 Clarke, Mary Lamson. [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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Celery + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

What each ingredient does

Milk
Forms the liquid base of the soup that the other ingredients are cooked in.
Flour
Thickens the soup when cooked with butter and stirred into the milk.
Butter
Cooks with the flour to form a roux and adds richness to the soup.
Egg
Enriches and thickens the celery soup when strained into it.
Potatoes
Adds starch and body, thickening the potato soup.

The step that matters

Straining the soup over the beaten egg. Pouring the soup over the egg while stirring steadily gently warms the egg, so it blends in smoothly instead of scrambling into lumps.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, onion, flour, celery, potato, egg):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, onion, flour, celery, potato, egg. 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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