IllustrationWhy it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,137 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Cook and strain the peas
Boil the peas in 3 quarts of water with salt for about 30 minutes.
Drain and pound the peas, then mix with 5 pints of the boiling water.
Return the mixture to the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Press the mixture through a fine sieve.
Cook the vegetables in butter
In a separate pan, simmer butter, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, parsley, and mint for nearly an hour, stirring occasionally.
Season with salt and white pepper or cayenne.
Combine and serve
Drain the vegetables from the butter and add them to the strained stock.
Boil gently until the butter rises to the surface.
Add the young peas and serve immediately.
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.
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Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cucumber + lettucetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together629 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + lettucetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Cucumber + minttop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together884 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large green peas
- Once pounded and sieved, they provide the body and thickness of the soup.
- Butter
- Carries flavour during cooking and adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Cucumbers
- Add watery moisture and a light, fresh flavour as they cook.
- Lettuce
- Softens as it cooks, adding body and a mild sweetness.
- Onions
- Soften in the butter, adding a savoury aroma to the base.
- Mint
- Adds a fresh, aromatic lift to the soup.
The step that matters
Press the mixture through a fine sieve. Pushing the cooked peas through a fine sieve breaks down the remaining fibres and skins, giving the soup a smooth texture. Skipping or rushing this step leaves a grainy, uneven soup.
Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, butter, cucumber, lettuce, onion, parsley, mint):
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Dillbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, cucumber, lettuce, onion, parsley, mint. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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