Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the cauliflower
Wash the cauliflower and break it into pieces, keeping the flowers whole.
In a pot, boil the cauliflower in 1‑1/2 pints of water, adding 1 oz of butter, a pinch of nutmeg, pepper, and salt to taste.
When the cauliflower is tender, add 1‑1/2 pints of milk and bring to a boil.
Thicken and serve
Thicken the soup by adding 2 oz of Allinson fine wheatmeal, first smoothing it with a little cold water.
Stir in the juice of a lemon.
Serve the soup with sippets of toast.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| 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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Cauliflower + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,113 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Cauliflower + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together126 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cauliflower
- Forms the main body and flavor of the soup as it softens in the liquid.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and a smooth, rich texture to the soup.
- Allinson fine wheatmeal (in the method)
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells when heated in the liquid.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat for richer flavor and a silkier mouthfeel.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the mild soup.
The step that matters
Smoothing the wheatmeal in cold water first. Flour added directly to hot liquid clumps, because its starch surface gets wet unevenly. Mixing it smoothly with a little cold water first lets it disperse, so the soup thickens evenly without lumps.
Swap the cauliflower
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, pepper, nutmeg, lemon):
- Capsicumfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Cauliflowerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, pepper, nutmeg, lemon. 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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