Why it works: Lettuce and endive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 284 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Shred the carrots, turnips, onions, lettuce, leeks, chervil, and endive.
In a stewpan, combine the shredded vegetables with butter and gravy.
Cook over low heat, shaking the pan frequently until the vegetables are tender.
Simmer and season
Add the broth and let it simmer gently for 1 hour.
Season with salt, mace, sugar, and cayenne.
Finish and serve
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with cream.
Stir the egg and cream mixture into the soup just before serving.
Continue stirring until the soup is almost boiling, but do not let it boil.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Lettuce + endivetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together284 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Lettuce + cherviltop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together396 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Chervil + endivetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together75 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Turnip + leektop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,046 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Carrot + turniptop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,001 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the soup and add richness when gently heated with the cream.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the finished soup.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and body as they soften into the soup.
- Turnips
- Contribute body and a mild, slightly peppery flavour as they cook.
- Onions
- Build savoury depth and aroma during the gentle cooking.
- Butter
- Adds fat and helps the vegetables soften gently in the pan.
The step that matters
Adding the egg and cream mixture. Egg yolks thicken when heated, but if the soup boils they can curdle and turn grainy. Stirring over gentle heat, stopping just short of boiling, keeps the texture smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, lettuce, leek, chervil, endive, butter):
- Beetrootbetter flavor fit
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Parsnipbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, lettuce, leek, chervil, endive, butter. 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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.