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Semolina Soup

A milk and water soup thickened with semolina, flavored with mace, pepper, salt, butter, and grated cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By T. R. Allinson · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Semolina Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine 1/2 gill of milk, 1 gill water, 1/2 oz. semolina, a very small piece of mace, 1/4 oz. butter, 1/2 oz. grated cheese, pepper, and salt to taste.

  2. Bring the milk and water to the boil with the mace.

Thicken and cook

  1. Thicken with the semolina.

  2. Cook gently for 10 minutes.

  3. Remove the mace.

Finish and serve

  1. Add cheese, butter, and seasoning, and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

155Calories
8 gProtein
8 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Macenot in our table0

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. Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Milk + macetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,346 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

  3. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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

Milk
Forms the liquid base and adds richness and a soft, creamy body.
Semolina (in the method)
Thickens the soup as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for a rounder mouthfeel and a smooth, rich flavour.
Grated cheese (in the method)
Adds savoury flavour and melts into the soup for body.
Mace
Adds a warm, aromatic spice note to the liquid.

The step that matters

Thicken with the semolina. Semolina clumps if dropped into liquid all at once. Add it in a steady stream while stirring so the grains disperse. Gentle simmering then lets the starch swell evenly and thicken the soup smoothly.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, 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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