Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Soak the dried peas in cold water and cook until soft, adding ½ cup of cold water every 15 minutes.
Once tender, mash the peas through a fine colander.
Make the soup
In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and flour together until smooth.
Gradually add the strained pea soup to the butter and flour mixture, stirring to combine.
If using, add meat bones after the peas start boiling and cook until desired tenderness.
For added flavor, fry an onion in the saucepan before adding the peas.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,460 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + meattop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried split yellow peas
- Form the body of the soup, thickening into a smooth purée as they cook and are mashed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour through the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup when cooked with butter into a smooth base.
The step that matters
Melting the butter and flour until smooth. Cooking flour in fat before adding liquid coats the starch granules so they disperse evenly; adding liquid too fast or without stirring causes lumps.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, butter, flour, meat):
- Shallotfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, flour, meat. 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.
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