Name: Tapioca Soup
Ingredients: one pint of soup stock; one ounce of tapioca; two tablespoonfuls of cream; two eggs; three tablespoon- fuls of it to the mixture; pepper; salt

Why it works: Cream and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Tapioca Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

Gather one pint of soup stock, one ounce of tapioca, yolks of two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of cream or milk, pepper, and salt.
Bring the stock to a boil.
Stir in gradually the tapioca, which should have been well soaked.
Allow it to simmer until quite clear.
Strain into a basin.

Finish and serve

Add the cream or milk to the yolks of the eggs and stir with a wooden spoon.
Take the stock from the fire to cool a little, add by degrees three tablespoonfuls of it to the mixture, stirring well all the time.
Mix all together, stir well, and add pepper and salt to taste.
Warm before serving, but do not boil.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

135Calories

7 gProtein

11 gFat

2 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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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.

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.

Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together21,449 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together50,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Tapioca: Swells and thickens the stock as it simmers, turning it clear and giving body.
Egg yolks: Enrich and thicken the soup, adding richness and a smooth texture when gently warmed.
Cream or milk: Adds richness and softens the texture of the soup.
Soup stock: Forms the liquid base that the tapioca thickens.