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Soup

Cream of Artichoke Soup

A creamy soup made from artichokes, butter, flour, cream, wine, egg, and cucumbers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Artichoke and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 135 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Cream of Artichoke Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the artichokes

  1. Cook artichokes in boiling water until soft, then rub through a sieve.

Make the soup

  1. Melt butter, add flour and seasonings, pour on hot liquor, and cook one minute.

  2. Add cream, wine, and slightly beaten egg.

  3. Pare cucumbers, cut into one-third inch cubes, sauté in butter, and add to soup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

805Calories
25 gProtein
25 gFat
116 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Artichoke1 medium (128g)60
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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. Artichoke + cucumbertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together135 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Artichoke + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together156 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Artichoke + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together466 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Artichokes
Provide the main body and flavor of the soup once pureed and sieved.
Butter
Enriches the soup and carries the flavor of the seasonings when cooked with flour.
Flour
Thickens the soup, giving it a smooth, body-rich texture.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Egg
Thickens and enriches the soup when stirred in gently.

The step that matters

Adding the egg. Egg proteins set when hot, so the slightly beaten egg can curdle or turn grainy if the soup is boiling. Stir it in gently off the heat or over low heat to keep the soup smooth.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (artichoke, butter, flour, nutmeg, wine, cream, egg):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against artichoke, butter, flour, nutmeg, wine, cream, egg. 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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