Name: Cock-a-leekie
Ingredients: 3 bunches of fine leeks; 5 quarts of stock; 2 teaspoonfuls of the prepared cocoa to 1 breakfast-cup; 2 teaspoonfuls of prepared cocoa; 4 tablespoonfuls of béchamel; 1/4 pint of milk; 1/4 teaspoonful of powdered sugar; 2 slices of crimped cod; 1 slice of ham minced very fine; 1/2 pint of white stock; 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar; 2 slices of cod; 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg; 2 slices of large cod; 1/4 pint of cream; one half of the leeks; 10 persons; 1 breakfast-cup; 1 large slice of cod; 1 chopped shalot; 1/4 teacupful of white stock; 3 persons; 1 shalot; 1/2 teacupful of cream; 4 persons; 1/4 lemon; 1 onion sliced; one boil; pepper; salt

Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,318 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Leek + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together152 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Leek + lemontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together162 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cocoa + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together643 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Leeks: Soften during long simmering, releasing a mild, sweet onion-like flavour into the soup.
Stock: Forms the liquid base and carries the flavour of the fowl and leeks throughout the soup.

The step that matters

Carefully skimming the surface during the long simmer. Over three to four hours, fat and fine foam rise to the surface. Removing them keeps the broth clear and stops greasy or bitter flavours from spreading through the soup.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (leek, milk, sugar, ham, nutmeg, cream, lemon):

Almondfits better
Chestnutfits better
Pistachiofits better
Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against leek, milk, sugar, ham, nutmeg, cream, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Cock-a-leekie

Cock-a-leekie

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Simmer

Serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)