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
Prepare stock from the last recipe.
Add carrots, turnips, cabbage, sugar, rice or barley, and tomatoes to the stock.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Boil for 45 minutes.
Skim any fatty substances from the stock before adding the vegetables.
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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Turnip + cabbagetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and body, and soften into the soup as it simmers.
- Turnips
- Contribute firm pieces that soften and add a mild, earthy flavor.
- Cabbage
- Adds bulk and a tender texture as it cooks down in the broth.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomatoes and vegetables.
- Rice or barley
- Releases starch into the broth, giving it body and a thicker texture.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity, moisture and savory depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Skim the stock before adding the vegetables. Fat that rises to the surface of the stock can make the soup greasy and cloudy. Removing it first leaves a cleaner, lighter broth before the vegetables go in.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, cabbage, sugar, rice, pepper):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Beetrootfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, cabbage, sugar, rice, 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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