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Split Pea Soup

A soup of split peas, potatoes, celery, Spanish onion, pepper, and salt, served with toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By T. R. Allinson · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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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 ↓

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak 2 oz. of split peas in water overnight, after picking them over and washing them.

Make the soup

  1. Set the split peas over the fire in the morning, and cook them with 3 oz. of potatoes cut into pieces, a piece of celery, and a slice of Spanish onion chopped up until quite tender.

  2. Rub the mixture through a sieve.

  3. Return the sieved soup to the saucepan, add pepper and salt, and a little water if necessary; bring to a boil.

Serve

  1. Serve with slices of toast.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

56Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
13 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
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 T. R. Allinson. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  2. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Split peas (in the method)
Form the body of the soup as they soften and break down into a thick purée.
Potatoes (in the method)
Add starch that thickens the soup and gives it a smoother, creamier body.
Celery
Adds a fresh, savory vegetable aroma and background flavor to the soup.
Spanish onion
Contributes savory sweetness and aroma as it cooks into the base.

The step that matters

Rub the mixture through a sieve. The peas and vegetables must be cooked until fully tender so they pass smoothly through the sieve. Undercooked pieces will leave the purée grainy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, 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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