Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Celery Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice in the milk and then sift it.
Grate the celery and add it to the sifted rice and heated stock.
Boil until the celery is tender.
Season with salt and cayenne.
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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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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Celery + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,491 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Cooks down and its starch thickens the soup, giving it body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and richness to the soup.
- Celery
- Contributes its savory, aromatic flavor and soft texture once tender.
- White stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavor of the soup.
The step that matters
Sifting the rice. Pressing the cooked rice through a sieve breaks down lumps and fine fibres, so the soup has a smooth, even texture rather than a grainy one.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk. 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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