Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Of Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Shell the horse beans and place them in boiling water with a little salt for 15 minutes.
Drain the beans and then place them in cold water for 10 minutes; drain again.
Make the soup
In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.
Mix in 1 teaspoon of flour, pepper, and salt.
Add the beans and cover with broth.
Add the chives and parsley, and cook until well done.
Mash and strain the mixture, then mix in 2 ounces of butter before serving.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beans + chivetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together180 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chive + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Beans + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,376 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Flour + chivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,168 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Horse beans
- Form the body of the soup, providing starch that thickens it when mashed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- All-purpose flour
- Cooks with the butter to form a roux that thickens the soup.
The step that matters
Mix in the flour with the melted butter. Flour must be cooked briefly in the fat before liquid is added; otherwise it stays raw-tasting and forms lumps instead of a smooth thickened base.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horse, butter, flour, pepper, chive, parsley):
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Beansthe original
- Lentilsfits about as well
- Chickpeafits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against horse, butter, flour, pepper, chive, parsley. 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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