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Leek Soup

A soup made from leeks, potatoes, butter, and seasonings, simmered until smooth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Leek Soup

Why it works: Leek and potato work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Leek Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and slice the leeks and potatoes.

Cook

  1. In a large pot, combine the leeks, potatoes, and water or soup stock.

  2. Add the butter, salt, and pepper, then bring to a boil.

  3. Cook until the vegetables are smooth.

Finish

  1. Pass the mixture through a colander to achieve a smooth consistency.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Leek + potatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Leek + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together965 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Leek + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together848 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Leeks
Provide the main flavour and body of the soup as they soften during cooking.
Potatoes
Break down as they cook, thickening the soup and giving it a creamy texture.
Butter
Adds fat that carries flavour and gives the soup a rich, smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cook until the vegetables are smooth. Potatoes and leeks must be cooked fully so their starches and fibres soften; undercooked vegetables stay grainy and will not purée smoothly when passed through a colander.

Swap the leek

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Onionfits better
  4. Leekthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, 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.

More leek soup recipes

Scotch 9Chicken 4Potato 4Welsh 3 See all 47 →

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