Name: Julienne Soup
Ingredients: 1 quart clear brown soup stock; ½ cup carrot, cut into thin strips (1.5 inches long); ½ cup turnip, cut into thin strips (1.5 inches long); 2 tablespoons cooked peas; 2 tablespoons cooked string beans

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 ↓

Julienne Soup

Ingredients

1 quart clear brown soup stock
½ cup carrot, cut into thin strips (1.5 inches long)
½ cup turnip, cut into thin strips (1.5 inches long)
2 tablespoons cooked peas
2 tablespoons cooked string beans

Directions

In a pot, combine the soup stock with the carrot and turnip strips.
Add the cooked peas and string beans.
Heat the mixture to boiling point.

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.

Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,002 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Turnip + beanstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together400 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Carrot + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,443 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Peas + beanstop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together949 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Carrot + peastop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Carrot: Provides thin strips that keep their shape and add color and mild sweetness to the broth.
Turnip: Adds thin strips with a mild, slightly peppery flavor and a firm bite to the broth.
Peas: Add small pieces of tender texture and sweetness to the soup.
String beans: Add tender pieces with a fresh, green vegetable flavor and bite to the soup.