Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Celery Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the chopped celery and onion juice in a bowl.
Pour the milk over the mixture while stirring and let it sit for several hours.
Rinse the rice flakes or flaked peas in cold water three or four times.
Serve
Place some flakes in a soup bowl, add a little parsley, and pour the soup over them.
Season with coarse sea salt or cayenne pepper.
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.
-
Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Celery + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,169 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Celery
- Provides the main flavour and aroma of the soup.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and adds richness and body to the soup.
- Rice flakes or flaked peas
- Hold their shape in the bowl and thicken the soup slightly as they absorb liquid.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, milk, rice, parsley):
- Carrotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, milk, rice, parsley. 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.
More celery soup recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Cream of Celery37 recipes
Indian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipes
Clear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipes
Mock Bisque Soup51 recipes