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Asparagus Soup

A veal and asparagus soup thickened with flour, simmered for hours and finished with milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Asparagus Soup

Why it works: Asparagus and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine veal, salt pork, and 3 quarts of water in a large pot.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Add half of the asparagus and boil for about 2.5 hours.

Finish the soup

  1. Reserve the remaining asparagus in water until 20 minutes before serving.

  2. Add the reserved asparagus to the pot and boil for an additional 20 minutes.

  3. Stir in 1 pint of milk and thicken the soup with flour.

  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

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.

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.

  1. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Pork + asparagustop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Asparagus + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together936 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Pork + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Breaks down during long simmering to give the broth body and savory depth.
Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable flavor and color to the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the soup's flavor.
Flour
Thickens the soup by swelling in the hot liquid to add body.

The step that matters

Adding the reserved asparagus late. Asparagus turns dull and overcooked during long boiling, so holding back the second batch and cooking it only 20 minutes keeps its flavor and bright color.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pork, milk, flour, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, milk, flour, 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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