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Celery Soup

A soup made from potatoes, onions, celery, milk, butter, pepper, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Celery Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the potatoes, onions, and celery very finely.

Cook the vegetables

  1. Place the chopped vegetables in a large pot and cover with boiling water.

  2. Stir often until the vegetables are cooked.

Finish the soup

  1. Add 1 quart of milk and bring to a boil.

  2. Season with butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt to taste.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  3. Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down while cooking to give the soup body and a thick, creamy texture.
Onions
Release sugars as they soften, adding sweetness and savory depth to the soup.
Celery
Provides the main vegetable flavor and some fresh, aromatic character.
Milk
Adds richness and creaminess, softening the soup's flavor and mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Adding the milk and bringing it to a boil. Milk can scorch on the bottom of the pot and curdle or separate if it boils hard, especially in acidic or starchy mixtures. Stirring often and keeping the heat moderate helps keep it smooth.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, milk, 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.

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