Why it works: Asparagus and cream work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 838 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Cream of Asparagus
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil the asparagus in salted water until very tender.
Save 1 pint of the cooking water and add it to a pot with 1 pint of cream.
Season with salt to taste.
Rub the asparagus through a sieve and add to the cream mixture.
Heat the mixture on the stove, adding thickening if needed.
Serve
Serve in bouillon cups.
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.
-
Asparagus + creamtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together838 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Asparagus
- Provides the main flavor and, once pureed, the body of the soup.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel to the soup.
- Thickening
- Increases viscosity so the pureed soup holds a fuller body when needed.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture on the stove, adding thickening if needed. Cream-based soups can curdle or scorch if overheated, so heat gently and stir. Thickening should be added only if the soup is too thin, since it sets the final texture.
“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.
More cream of asparagus recipes
You might also like
Asparagus Soup179 recipes
Asparagus Salad77 recipes
Boiled Asparagus27 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.