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Soup

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

A creamy soup made with Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, onions, celery, herbs, and chicken broth, finished with a roux and sweet cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel and thinly slice the Jerusalem artichokes, then wash the slices thoroughly in cold water.

Braise and simmer

  1. In a pot, braise the artichokes in butter with the carrot, onions, celery, sweet herbs, allspice, and bay leaves.

  2. Add enough chicken broth to cover the ingredients and bring to a boil.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer for three hours.

Finish the soup

  1. Make a white roux by mixing equal parts butter and flour, then stir it into the soup.

  2. Boil for five minutes, then remove from heat and strain through a puree strainer.

  3. Season with salt and white pepper.

  4. Before serving, stir in the boiled sweet cream.

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.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Jerusalem artichoke + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together75 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Carrot + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,021 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Jerusalem artichoke + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together116 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Celery + allspicetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,422 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Jerusalem artichokes
Provide the main body and earthy flavor of the soup as they soften during simmering.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavor when the artichokes are braised, and forms the roux.
Flour
Forms a white roux with butter that thickens the soup.
Chicken broth
Forms the cooking liquid that softens the vegetables and becomes the soup base.
Onions
Add sweetness and aromatic depth as they braise and simmer into the base.
Boiled sweet cream
Adds richness and smoothness when stirred in just before serving.

The step that matters

Simmering the soup for three hours. Long simmering softens the artichokes fully so the strained soup becomes smooth. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer, with enough broth to cover, prevents scorching and drying out.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (jerusalem artichoke, butter, carrot, onion, celery, chicken, flour):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against jerusalem artichoke, butter, carrot, onion, celery, chicken, flour. 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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