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
Prepare the base
Melt the dripping in a pan.
Cut the onion and leek into small pieces.
Sweat the onion and leek in the fat without discoloring.
Simmer the soup
Add the thinly sliced potatoes, stock, and seasoning.
Simmer gently for two hours.
Wash the tapioca, mix it with a little water, and add it to the soup.
Boil until clear.
Break down any large pieces of potato with a wooden spoon.
Finish and serve
Just before serving, add the milk.
Serve in a hot soup tureen and send to the table very hot.
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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Onion + leektop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,326 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
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Potato + leektop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Break down during long simmering to thicken the soup and give it body.
- Tapioca
- Starch that thickens the soup as it boils, turning it clear and glossy.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness; added late so it stays fresh-tasting and does not curdle.
- Dripping
- Fat that carries the flavour of the onion and leek during the initial sweating.
- Onion and leek
- Aromatic base that builds savoury flavour as they soften in fat.
The step that matters
Sweat the onion and leek without discoloring. Browning turns the vegetables bitter and dulls the pale, delicate flavour of the soup. Gentle heat in fat softens them and releases their sweetness while keeping the colour light.
Swap the leek
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, milk, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
- Leekthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, milk, butter, 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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