Why it works: Peas and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,016 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Green Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Wash the lamb in cold water.
Place the lamb in a soup pot with 6 quarts of cold water.
Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt.
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over moderate heat for 2 hours.
Skim the surface to remove impurities.
Add the vegetables
Add 1 quart of shelled peas and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Cover and boil for 30 minutes.
Scrape the skins from 1 quart of small young potatoes and add them to the soup.
Cover the pot and boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Thicken and serve
In a separate bowl, work together ¼ pound of butter and 2 teaspoons of flour.
Add the butter and flour mixture to the soup 10-12 minutes before removing from heat.
Serve the meat on a dish with parsley sauce and the soup in a tureen.
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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Peas + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,016 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lamb + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together520 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb
- Gives the broth its rich meaty flavor as it simmers for a long time.
- Peas
- Provide the main body, sweetness and green colour of the soup.
- Potatoes
- Break down slightly as they cook, adding body and thickening the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and smoothing the soup's texture.
- Flour
- Combined with butter, it thickens the soup as it is stirred in near the end.
The step that matters
Adding the butter and flour mixture. Flour thickens only when heated in liquid and stirred in evenly; added too early or lumpy, it can scorch or clump, so it should go in late and be well mixed.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, potato, butter, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Beansfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, potato, butter, flour. 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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