Why it works: Spinach and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,400 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
Cream of Spinach Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the spinach
Pick over and wash the spinach thoroughly, changing the water four or five times to remove all sand.
Bring salted water to a boil.
Cook the spinach for 15 minutes.
Drain the spinach.
Transfer the spinach to cold water to enhance the color.
Drain the spinach again.
Press the spinach dry.
Chop and pound the spinach to a pulp.
Make the soup
Melt the butter in a separate pot.
Add the flour to the melted butter.
Gradually whisk in the milk until the sauce is smooth.
Add the spinach pulp to the white sauce a spoonful at a time.
Stir the mixture until well blended.
Heat the mixture on the stove, stirring constantly until it reaches a boil.
Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Strain the soup.
Return the strained soup to the heat and heat until it is scalding hot.
Serve
Serve the soup with tiny croutons or stir in whipped cream.
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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Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,400 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Spinach + flourtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Spinach
- Forms the green pulp that gives the soup its body and color.
- Butter
- Fat that carries flavor and, with the flour, forms the base of the white sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the melted butter into a roux that gives the soup its body.
- Milk
- Liquid that turns the roux into a smooth white sauce, adding richness.
- Whipped cream
- Optional topping that adds richness and a cool, silky finish.
The step that matters
Gradually whisk in the milk until the sauce is smooth. Adding the liquid slowly while whisking lets the starch in the flour disperse evenly, so the sauce thickens without lumps.
Swap the spinach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, pepper, cream):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Spinachthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, pepper, cream. 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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