Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cream of Asparagus
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the asparagus
Cut off the tops of the asparagus and set aside.
In a kettle, combine the remaining asparagus, onion, and salt pork.
Add the light stock and bring to a boil.
Simmer gently until the asparagus is tender.
Remove the salt pork and blend the mixture until smooth.
Make the cream base
In a separate pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a roux.
Gradually add the cream or milk to the roux, stirring until thickened.
Combine and serve
Combine the asparagus mixture with the cream mixture and heat through.
Serve hot, garnished with the reserved asparagus tops.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Asparagus + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,212 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Asparagus + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together381 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Asparagus
- Provides the main flavour and the body of the soup once blended smooth.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and cream into a roux that gives the soup its body.
- Butter
- Forms the fat base of the roux, carrying flavour and helping it thicken smoothly.
- Light cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the finished soup.
- Light stock
- Forms the liquid that cooks the asparagus and onion and makes up the soup's volume.
- Onion
- Adds savoury aroma and depth to the stock in which the asparagus cooks.
The step that matters
Gradually add the cream to the roux. Adding liquid slowly while stirring keeps the flour smooth and lets the starch swell evenly, so the sauce thickens without lumps.
Swap the asparagus
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pork, cream, butter, flour):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Asparagusthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pork, cream, butter, flour. 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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