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Asparagus Soup

A soup made with asparagus, potatoes, and water, seasoned with salt and pepper, optionally finished with milk or cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Asparagus Soup

Why it works: Asparagus and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 217 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the asparagus by removing the tough ends and cutting the tender parts into small pieces.

Make the soup

  1. In a pot, combine the asparagus pieces and potatoes with boiling water.

  2. Cook until the potatoes are tender and a thick soup forms.

  3. Strain the soup and rub it through a sieve to achieve a smooth texture.

  4. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in milk or cream if desired.

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. Asparagus + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together217 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  4. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Asparagus + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together650 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Provides the main flavor and body of the soup.
Potatoes
Break down during cooking to thicken the soup and give it a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Rub the soup through a sieve. Straining and pressing the cooked solids through a sieve breaks down fibers and removes tough strands, which is what gives the soup its smooth texture.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits about as well
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, milk. 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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