Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cream of Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, bring 1 pint of boiling water to a simmer.
Add 1 teaspoon of butter and ½ teaspoon of beef extract.
In a small bowl, mix 2 heaping teaspoons of cornstarch with a little cold milk until smooth.
Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot and cook for a few minutes.
Add the mashed peas and heat through.
Serve immediately.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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 + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peastop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,460 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peastop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,044 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the soup into a smooth, creamy body as it cooks.
- Peas
- Provide the main flavour and body of the soup once mashed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the broth.
The step that matters
Stirring the cornstarch mixture into the simmering pot. Cornstarch clumps if added dry or unevenly; mixing it into cold liquid first and stirring it into hot liquid keeps the soup smooth and lets the starch thicken evenly.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, beef, pepper, onion):
- Sesamefits better
- Beansfits better
- Black-eyed peafits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, beef, pepper, onion. 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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