Why it works: Celery and turnip are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,418 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Put a quart of dried peas into five quarts of water.
Boil for four hours.
Add three or four large onions, two heads of celery, a carrot, two turnips, all cut up rather fine.
Season with pepper and salt.
Boil two hours longer.
If the soup becomes too thick, add more water.
Strain through a colander.
Finish and serve
Stir in a tablespoonful of cold butter.
Serve hot, with small pieces of toasted bread placed in the bottom of the tureen.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Peas | 1/2 cup (72g) | 62 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Turnip | 1 medium (122g) | 34 |
| Celery | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| 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.
-
Celery + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,418 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Peas + turniptop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,350 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried peas
- Break down during long boiling to thicken the soup and give it body.
- Celery
- Adds aromatic flavour to the broth as it simmers.
- Turnips
- Add mild, earthy sweetness and body to the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel when stirred in at the end.
The step that matters
Add more water if the soup thickens. Peas keep absorbing liquid and starch as they boil, so the soup can turn pasty. Adding water keeps the texture soupy and stops the bottom from scorching.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, butter, onion, turnip, pepper):
- Lentilsfits better
- Beansfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, butter, onion, turnip, 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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