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Potato Soup.

A simple soup made from boiled potatoes, onion, salt, pepper, and optional salt pork, milk, or egg.

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

  1. Boil the potatoes and onion in water until very tender.

  2. Mash or press through a colander to remove skins.

  3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  4. For a richer soup, add salt pork, milk, or a beaten egg.

  5. If using salt pork, reduce the amount of salt.

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. Potato + porktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  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 + porktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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
Break down into starch that thickens the soup and gives it a smooth, body-filled texture.
Onion
Softens as it boils, adding mild sweetness and savory depth to the broth.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory, smoky flavor to a richer version of the soup.
Milk
Adds fat and dairy richness, making the soup creamier and smoother.
Egg
Adds protein and richness, helping to thicken and enrich the soup when beaten in.

The step that matters

Boil until very tender. Potatoes must be fully softened so they mash smoothly and release starch; undercooked pieces stay lumpy and grainy and won't blend into a uniform soup.

Swap the onion

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

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