Why it works: Onion and potato 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
Boil 1 quart of water.
Add 2-3 strips of bacon, 2 chopped onions, salt, and pepper.
Peel and slice ½ pint of raw potatoes.
Boil until the potatoes are reduced to a pulp.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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 during boiling, releasing starch that thickens the soup and gives it body.
- Onions
- Soften and turn sweet as they cook, adding savory depth to the broth.
- Bacon
- Renders fat into the water and adds smoky, salty flavor to the soup.
The step that matters
Boil until the potatoes are reduced to a pulp. Potatoes must cook long enough for their starch to break down fully. Stopping early leaves firm chunks and a thin texture, while the starch released during prolonged boiling is what gives the soup its thickness.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, potato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, potato. 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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