Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cream Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a large pot, combine the stock, sago, and soup bunch.
Boil the mixture well and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Strain the soup carefully to remove solids.
Finish and serve
Stir in the cream and heat gently before serving.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Beef + creamtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,128 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Pepper and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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
- Sago
- Starch that thickens the stock as it boils, giving the soup body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- Stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the soup's flavor.
The step that matters
Heat the cream gently. Cream can curdle or separate when it boils hard or is heated too fast, especially in an acidic or salted liquid. Adding it at the end and heating it gently keeps the soup smooth and creamy.
“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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