Name: Ratcliffe Asparagus Soup
Ingredients: 1 large bunch of asparagus, chopped; 1 onion, chopped; 3 pints (6 cups) of water; 1 pound of white meat (chicken preferred); Salt, to taste; Pepper, to taste; 1 tablespoon of butter; 1 tablespoon of flour; 1 quart (4 cups) of rich milk (with cream)

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Ratcliffe Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

Combine the chopped asparagus, onion, water, white meat, salt, and pepper in a pot.
Bring to a boil and cook until the meat is done.

Finish and serve

Cream together the butter and flour in a small bowl.
Add the creamed mixture and milk to the pot just before serving.
Boil quickly, then strain and serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Asparagus + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,212 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,968 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Asparagus + chickentop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together539 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus: Provides the main vegetable flavor and body of the soup.
White meat: Adds savory flavor and protein to the broth as it cooks.
Butter and flour: Creamed together, they form a roux that thickens the soup.
Milk: Adds richness and creaminess to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Adding the butter and flour mixture. Flour mixed with butter should be fully blended before it goes into the hot liquid, otherwise it can clump. Stirring it in and boiling briefly lets the starch swell and thicken the soup smoothly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, meat, chicken, pepper, butter, flour, milk):

Potatofits better
Leekfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, meat, chicken, pepper, butter, flour, milk. 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.

Chicken Broth257 recipes

Chicken Soup156 recipes

Creamed Chicken89 recipes

Asparagus Salad77 recipes

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Ratcliffe Asparagus Soup