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Potato Soup

A creamy potato soup with onions, milk, butter, salt, pepper, and canned oysters.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Potato Soup

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel and chop the potatoes and onions.

  2. Add just enough water to cover them and boil until tender.

Make the soup

  1. Mash the mixture through a colander back into the kettle.

  2. Stir in the milk, butter, salt, and pepper.

  3. Heat again until it boils.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the canned oysters and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down when boiled and mashed, giving the soup body and a thick, starchy texture.
Onions
Soften during boiling and mashing, adding mild sweetness and aroma to the base.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a rich, smooth mouthfeel to the mashed base.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel.
Canned oysters
Supply the main briny, seafood flavor that defines the soup.

The step that matters

Add the canned oysters and serve.. Oysters are already cooked and become tough and rubbery when held at a hard boil. Adding them last, just long enough to heat through, keeps them tender and their flavor clean.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, milk, butter, pepper, oyster):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, milk, butter, pepper, oyster. 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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