Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cream Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Put the contents of your stock pot over the fire and add boiling water to make soup.
Remove the sheep's tongue and set it aside.
Simmer the soup for one hour, then strain and season.
Finish and serve
Return the soup to the fire and add the butter rolled in flour.
Skin and dice the sheep's tongue, then add it to the soup.
Bring the soup to a boil, then pour it into a tureen.
Stir in the hot milk with the cooked beaten eggs.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Butter and flour
- Cooked together into a roux-style paste, it thickens the soup and gives it a smoother body.
- Eggs
- Once cooked and beaten into the hot milk, they add richness and help thicken the soup.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the soup's flavour and texture.
The step that matters
Stir in the hot milk with the cooked beaten eggs. Eggs can curdle or scramble if they meet very hot liquid too quickly. Adding the hot milk gradually while stirring keeps the soup smooth and creamy.
“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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