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Split Pea Soup

A hearty soup made with split peas, corned beef pot‑liquor, onion, celery, parsley, milk, butter, flour, and fried bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the split peas overnight.

  2. Combine the soaked peas with the pot-liquor from the corned beef in a pot.

  3. Add the sliced onion, chopped celery, and chopped parsley.

Cook and finish

  1. Boil gently for three hours, adding boiling water if the liquid reduces too much.

  2. Rub the mixture through a colander and return it to the pot.

  3. Cook the butter and flour in the milk for one minute, then stir the mixture into the soup.

  4. Serve the soup over diced fried bread in a tureen.

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.

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. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  4. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Split peas
Provide the bulk and body of the soup as they break down during long simmering.
Milk
Adds richness and a creamy, smooth texture to the finished soup.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour, and helps the flour cook into a smooth thickening base.
Flour
Thickens the soup slightly when cooked with butter and milk before stirring in.
Onion
Contributes savoury, aromatic flavour that builds the soup's base taste during simmering.

The step that matters

Simmering the peas for three hours. Split peas must cook long enough to soften fully and release starch, which thickens the soup. Too little liquid can scorch the bottom and leave the peas grainy, so topping up with boiling water keeps the simmer gentle and even.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, celery, parsley, milk, butter, flour):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, celery, parsley, milk, butter, flour. 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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