Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a pot, combine 2 quarts of water, split peas, carrot, turnip, potato, tomatoes, and onion.
Cook slowly for 2 hours.
Rub the mixture through a colander.
Add water to achieve the desired consistency.
Finish and serve
Reheat.
Season with coarse sea salt.
Stir in cream or butter before serving.
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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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,798 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Split peas
- Break down during slow cooking to thicken the soup and give it body.
- Potato
- Starch releases as it cooks, adding thickness and a smoother texture.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity and moisture, balancing the sweetness of the vegetables.
- Onion
- Contributes savory aroma and sweetness as it softens during cooking.
- Cream or butter
- Adds fat for a richer mouthfeel and rounder flavor at the end.
The step that matters
Rub the mixture through a colander. Pushing the cooked vegetables and peas through the holes breaks them into a fine purée. Skipping or rushing this leaves a grainy, uneven texture.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, potato, tomato, onion, cream):
- Beansfits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, potato, tomato, onion, cream. 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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