Why it works: Celery and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Winter Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a large pot, combine the broth, split peas, celery, onions, and mixed herbs.
Simmer slowly for 3 hours.
Skim off any foam, then strain the soup through a sieve.
Finish and serve
Add spices to taste before reheating to serve.
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.
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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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + celerytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,460 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + peastop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,589 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
- Split peas
- Break down during long simmering to thicken the soup and give it body.
- Broth
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavour of the soup.
- Onions
- Add savoury sweetness and aroma as they soften in the broth.
- Celery
- Contributes aromatic flavour that deepens during slow simmering.
The step that matters
Simmer slowly for 3 hours. A gentle simmer lets the split peas soften and break down fully, thickening the soup. A hard boil can scorch the bottom and cloud the broth, so keep the heat low and stir occasionally.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, celery, onion):
- Beansfits better
- Sesamefits better
- Black-eyed peafits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, celery, onion. 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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