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 ↓
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Smash the beef or ham bones into fragments.
Add a small piece of lean ham for flavor.
Boil the bones and ham in water for at least 2.5 hours.
Optionally, add a stick of celery while boiling the bones for extra flavor.
Optionally, boil one or two onions with the bones for added flavor.
Strain the liquid carefully.
Discard the bones and ham debris.
Return the liquid to the pot.
Place the pot back on the fire.
Finish the soup
Wash the potatoes.
Peel the potatoes.
Cut the potatoes into small pieces.
Boil the potatoes in the stock until they dissolve.
Strain the soup through a fine sieve.
Return the soup to the heat.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef or ham bones
- Release collagen and savory flavor into the water as they simmer, forming the stock's body.
- Potatoes
- Break down as they boil, thickening the stock and giving the soup its body.
- Lean ham
- Adds meaty, savory flavor to the stock.
The step that matters
Boil the potatoes until they dissolve. Potatoes release starch as they cook, which thickens the stock. Boiling too briefly leaves chunks, while overcooking can make the soup gluey. Watch for the potatoes breaking down rather than relying on a fixed time.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, potato, celery, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, potato, celery, 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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