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Soup

St. Germain Soup

A pea soup with stock, butter, corn starch, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

St. Germain Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain and rinse peas, reserving one-third cup.

Make the soup

  1. Put remainder in cold water with seasonings, and simmer one-half hour.

  2. Rub through sieve and add stock.

  3. Bind with butter and corn-starch cooked together.

  4. Boil five minutes.

  5. Add milk and reserved peas.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

415Calories
14 gProtein
20 gFat
48 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
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 Fannie Merritt Farmer. 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

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

  5. Peas + corntop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together420 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Marrowfat peas
Provide the main body and flavor of the soup once puréed through a sieve.
Butter and corn-starch
Cooked together to bind the soup and give it a smooth, thickened body.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softness to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Bind with butter and corn-starch cooked together. Cooking the butter and corn-starch together first forms a roux, which thickens the soup evenly. Adding the starch raw can leave lumps or a starchy taste.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, onion, parsley, sugar, pepper, butter, corn):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, onion, parsley, sugar, pepper, butter, corn. 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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