Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Celery Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice in water until it thickens.
Add the milk gradually as the rice thickens.
Cut the white part of the celery into 1-inch pieces and grate a little of the root.
Add the celery to the veal or chicken broth and boil until tender.
Stir in the boiled rice and milk mixture, then season with salt and pepper.
Strain the soup and just before serving, stir in the cream.
Start the rice in cold water and bring to a boil slowly.
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.
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,169 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Thickens the soup and gives it a smooth, full body as its starch cooks.
- Milk
- Adds creamy body and mild sweetness to the soup base.
- Celery
- Provides the main savory flavor and tender, soft texture.
- Veal or chicken broth
- Forms the savory liquid base that carries the celery flavor.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel at the end.
The step that matters
Stir in the cream just before serving. Cream's fat and milk proteins can separate or curdle when boiled for a long time. Adding it after straining and just before serving keeps the soup smooth and rich.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, veal, pepper, cream):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Turmericfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, veal, pepper, 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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