Barley Soup

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.

1. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together8,002 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

2. Barley + turniptop 2% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together629 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

3. Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together7,585 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

4. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together14,555 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

5. Barley + carrottop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together784 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Barley

Thickens the soup as its starch releases during long simmering.

Neck of mutton

Adds rich meaty flavour and body to the broth during the long cook.

Lean ham

Adds savoury, salty depth to the broth.

Onions

Build aromatic sweetness and flavour as they soften in the broth.

Carrots

Add gentle sweetness and colour, and soften into the soup.

Turnips

Add mild earthy flavour and soften into the soup during cooking.

The step that matters

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (barley, carrot, turnip, mutton, ham, pepper):

1. Leekfits better
2. Parsnipfits better
3. Asparagusfits better
4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against barley, carrot, turnip, mutton, ham, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.