Why it works: Potato and onion 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
Place the peeled potatoes in a pot of cold water.
Add the chopped onions and diced salt pork.
Pour in 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
Cook until the potatoes are nearly done.
Stir in 1 cup of milk, 1 beaten egg, and 1 tablespoon of butter.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Onion + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 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
- Starch that breaks down as it cooks, thickening the soup and giving it body.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat and savory flavor into the broth as it cooks.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and softens the flavor of the broth.
- Egg
- Enriches the soup and adds richness to its texture when stirred in.
- Butter
- Adds fat, richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Stirring in the milk and egg. Milk and egg proteins can curdle or turn grainy if the soup is boiling hard when they are added. Keeping the heat gentle helps the dairy and egg blend smoothly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pork, milk, egg, butter):
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pork, milk, egg, butter. 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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