Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the peas
Boil the pea shells in 2 quarts of water for 30 minutes.
Strain the water and add half of the peas, boiling for another 30 minutes.
Add the remaining peas and cook until tender.
Remove 1 cup of peas and set aside.
Purée and finish
Pass the rest through a sieve or colander.
Return the pureed soup to the stove and add butter and flour.
Stir in pepper, salt, and cream or milk.
Serve
Serve with croutons or fried bread.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Peas + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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
- Peas
- Form the body and most of the flavour of the soup once puréed.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds richness and a smoother, creamier texture.
The step that matters
Adding the flour to the hot purée. Flour thickens only when its starch is heated in liquid. Stir it in well with the butter and keep the soup warm so it thickens evenly without lumps.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, cream, pepper, bread):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, cream, pepper, bread. 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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