Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Veal Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Combine the veal and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
Strain the veal soup and season with salt and pepper.
Add the macaroni and finish
Boil the macaroni in a separate pot with enough water to cover it until tender. Add a little butter to the macaroni.
Add the cooked macaroni to the strained soup.
Stir in milk or cream and celery flavor for extra flavor, if desired.
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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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,336 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + celerytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,491 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal joint
- Releases flavor and body into the water as it simmers, giving the soup its base.
- Macaroni
- Adds starch and bulk, making the soup more substantial to eat.
- Milk or cream
- Adds richness and a softer, creamier mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Swap the celery
The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, pepper, milk):
- Parsleyfits better
- Sagefits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, pepper, milk. 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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