Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the potatoes and place them with the chopped onions in cold water.
Cook and strain
Boil for about 35 minutes until soft.
Remove from heat and pass the mixture through a sieve.
Finish and serve
Return the puree to the pot and add milk, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Heat gently and serve with fried or toasted bread.
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.
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.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starch that thickens the soup into a smooth, body-rich purée.
- Onions
- Add savoury sweetness and aroma as they soften in the cooking water.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and softens the flavour of the purée.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Passing the mixture through a sieve. Pressing the cooked potatoes and onions through a sieve breaks down the starch cells and removes fibrous bits, giving a smooth texture. Letting the mixture cool slightly first makes it easier to press through.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, milk, butter, pepper, nutmeg, bread):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, milk, butter, pepper, nutmeg, bread. 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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