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Suffolk Soup

A hearty mutton soup with potatoes, carrots, onions, and rice.

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

Suffolk Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soup

  1. Cut the mutton into small pieces and place it in a saucepan with salt and water.

  2. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil, then skim off any foam.

  3. Add the chopped onions, diced potatoes, and grated carrot.

  4. Cook gently for about 1½ hours.

Finish and season

  1. Add the rice and simmer gently for another 30 minutes.

  2. Skim well and season with pepper and salt to taste.

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  5. Potato + ricetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together851 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Neck mutton
Gives the soup its rich meaty flavour as it cooks slowly in the water.
Potatoes
Break down slightly as they cook, adding body and thickening the broth.
Rice
Absorbs liquid and swells during simmering, thickening the soup further.
Onions
Add savoury sweetness and aroma as they soften in the broth.
Carrot
Adds natural sweetness and colour to the soup.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam that rises as the mixture first heats contains impurities and fat that cloud the broth and taste unpleasant. Removing it early, and skimming again before serving, keeps the soup clear and clean-flavoured.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, potato, carrot, rice, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Turnipfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, carrot, rice, 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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