Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cream of Celery Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Clean the celery and cut it and the onion finely.
Put the celery and onion into a saucepan with the stock and let it simmer slowly for 30 minutes.
Thicken and finish
Beat the butter and flour together to form a smooth cream.
Stir a few spoonfuls of the stock into the butter and flour mixture, then add it to the soup.
Boil the soup for 10 minutes and strain it through a fine sieve.
Return the strained soup to the saucepan and add the milk.
When it boils, add the cream and heat just to boiling point.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
To serve later
To serve later, return only ½ cup of the strained soup to the saucepan, adding ¼ cup each of milk and cream, and heat to boiling point.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Celery
- Provides the main flavour and body of the soup.
- Butter and flour
- Form a roux that thickens the soup into a smooth, creamy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and mild sweetness, softening the soup's flavour.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the soup a smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Stirring the roux into the stock. Adding the butter and flour mixture to hot liquid without first loosening it with stock can cause lumps. Thinning it with a few spoonfuls of stock first lets the starch disperse evenly so the soup thickens smoothly.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, butter, flour, milk, cream, pepper):
- Garlicfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, butter, flour, milk, cream, 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.
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