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
Cook and mash
Boil the potatoes and onion in water until very tender.
Mash or press through a colander to remove lumps.
Season and finish
Add salt and pepper, and thin with water if necessary.
For a richer soup, add salt pork, milk, or a beaten egg.
Adjust seasoning to taste.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Onion + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 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
- Their starch breaks down when cooked and mashed, giving the soup its body and thickness.
- Onion
- Cooking softens it and adds a mild, savoury sweetness that flavours the soup.
- Milk
- Adds richness and a creamier, smoother texture to the soup.
- Beaten egg
- Enriches the soup and adds body as it is stirred in.
- Salt pork
- Its fat and salty, smoky flavour make the soup richer and more savoury.
The step that matters
Boil the potatoes and onion until very tender. Potato starch only mashes smooth when the cells are fully softened. Undercooked potatoes stay grainy and lumpy, and no amount of mashing fixes that.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pepper, pork, milk, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, pork, milk, egg. 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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