Why it works: Cream and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,009 recipes. The science ↓
White Soup
8 personsIngredients
Directions
Make the paste
Reduce the almonds in a mortar to a paste, with a spoonful of water, and add to them the meat, which should be previously pounded with the bread.
Beat all together, and add the lemon-peel, very finely chopped, and the mace.
Simmer and serve
Pour the boiling stock on the whole, and simmer for an hour.
Rub the eggs in the cream, put in the soup, bring it to a boil, and serve immediately.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 4 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
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 + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,009 recipes
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Lemon + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,315 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,640 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy body to the soup.
- Almonds (in the method)
- Ground to a paste, they thicken the soup and give it a nutty body.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Rubbed into the cream, they thicken the soup and add a silky texture.
- White stock
- Forms the liquid base of the soup.
The step that matters
Rub the eggs in the cream, then serve immediately. Egg yolk thickens when heated, so the soup can curdle or turn grainy if it boils too hard or sits too long after the eggs are added. Serving straight away keeps it smooth.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, lemon, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, lemon, 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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