Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Boil cold roast beef bones until all the strength is extracted.
Add chopped onions to the pot.
Thicken and finish
Mix 3 heaping tablespoons of pease brose in cold water.
Pour the mixture into the pot and bring to a brief boil.
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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 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
- Roast beef bones
- Release their meaty flavour and body into the broth as they simmer.
- Chopped onions
- Add aroma and a mild sweetness as they soften in the broth.
- Pease brose
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells with heat.
The step that matters
Mixing the pease brose into cold water. Stirring the meal into cold water first spreads the particles evenly so they do not form lumps. Starch only thickens once it is heated, so the mixture should be fully dispersed before it goes into the pot.
“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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