Skip to main content
Soup

Leek and Potato Soup

A soup made with leeks, celery, potatoes, butter, flour, milk, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Leek and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Leek and Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Cut leeks and celery in very thin slices crosswise and cook in two and one-half tablespoons butter, stirring constantly, ten minutes.

  2. Add milk, and cook in double boiler for forty minutes.

  3. Cut potatoes into slices and cut slices into small pieces; then cook in boiling salted water for ten minutes.

Make the soup

  1. Melt two tablespoons butter, add flour, milk with vegetables and potatoes.

  2. Cook until potatoes are soft, and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

929Calories
27 gProtein
22 gFat
158 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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. Leek + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  3. Leek + potatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30 recipes

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

  4. Celery + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

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

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Leeks
Provide the main savory flavor and soft body once cooked in butter.
Potatoes
Break down as they cook, thickening the soup and giving it a creamy body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the soup and adds richness and sweetness.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk mixture so the soup becomes smooth and creamy.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor from the vegetables.

The step that matters

Add the flour to the melted butter before the milk. Flour must be cooked briefly in fat to form a roux; adding it to liquid without that step can leave the soup lumpy and floury-tasting.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against leek, butter, milk, potato, flour, 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.

You might also like

Indian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and SpinachIndian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipesCream of Potato SoupCream of Potato Soup38 recipesCream of CeleryCream of Celery37 recipesClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd SoupClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipes