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 ↓
Lamb Bone Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a large pot, combine the lamb bone, potatoes, onions, and beef extract with the cold water.
Cook thoroughly and slowly until the flavors meld.
Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove solids.
Finish and serve
Return the liquid to the pot and add the milk, curry powder, salt, and pepper.
Reheat the soup and serve with toasted bread cubes.
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.
-
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Lamb + beeftop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together896 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb bone
- Releases savory flavor and body into the cooking liquid as it simmers.
- Potatoes
- Break down during cooking to thicken the soup and add starchy body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and softens the flavor of the broth.
- Beef extract
- Adds concentrated savory, meaty depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Cooking slowly after adding the milk. Milk can scorch or curdle if it boils hard, so reheat gently and avoid a rolling boil once it is in the soup.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, beef, milk, potato, pepper):
- Tomatofits better
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, beef, milk, potato, 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
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.