Why it works: Almond and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,130 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓
Soup a LA Reine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup base
In a pot, combine veal stock and mace; bring to a boil.
Strain the stock into a bowl with the crumbs of French rolls, pounded almonds, and pounded fowl.
Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.
Finish and serve
Rub the mixture through a fine cloth until the soup reaches the desired thickness.
Season with coarse sea salt to taste, then bring to a boil.
Serve the soup with cream stirred in.
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.
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Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + meattop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together486 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + meattop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,890 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,761 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Mace + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,009 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries all the other ingredients.
- French rolls
- Crumbs thicken the soup as they soak up and bind the liquid.
- Sweet almonds
- Pounded almonds add body and a rich, creamy texture.
- Fowl white meat
- Pounded meat adds protein body and savoury flavour to the soup.
- Cream
- Stirred in at the end to add richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Rubbing the mixture through a fine cloth. This step sets the final texture. Pushing the solids through a fine cloth breaks them into a smooth purée, and stopping at the right point controls how thick the soup becomes.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, mace, meat, cream):
- Walnutfits better
- Almondthe original
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, mace, meat, cream. 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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