Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pea Soup II
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the soup
Chop the bacon and onions finely and place them in a saucepan.
Add salt and pepper to taste, then pour in the water.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Finish and serve
Meanwhile, rub 1 quart of previously boiled peas through a sieve.
Add the sieved peas to the saucepan and boil for one hour longer.
Serve hot.
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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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,331 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
- Peas
- Break down into a sieved purée that thickens the soup and gives it body.
- Bacon
- Renders fat into the pot, adding savoury flavour to the soup.
- Onions
- Soften during long simmering, adding sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Rubbing the boiled peas through a sieve. Peas must be fully cooked before sieving so they pass through smoothly; under-cooked peas stay grainy and do not thicken the soup evenly.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper):
- Black-eyed peafits better
- Sesamefits better
- Beansfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper. 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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