Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mutton Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Place the mutton bone in a pot with 3 quarts of cold water.
Cook slowly for 2 hours.
Skim the surface, add salt, and hot water if necessary.
Add the vegetables and serve
To the broth, add green corn, butter beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.
Cook for an additional hour.
Serve hot in heated soup plates.
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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Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,211 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Corn + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together938 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Beans + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together655 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,798 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
- Mutton bone
- Releases flavour and gelatin into the water as it simmers, giving the broth body.
- Potatoes
- Break down partly as they cook, thickening the broth and adding starchy body.
- Butter beans
- Hold their shape and add creamy texture and mild sweetness to the soup.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity and a fresh, bright note that balances the rich broth.
The step that matters
Skimming the surface. Skimming removes foam and coagulated proteins that rise during simmering, keeping the broth clear and free of greasy or bitter off-flavours.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, corn, butter, beans, potato):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, corn, butter, beans, potato. 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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