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Flemish Soup

A soup made with crumbed French rolls, veal broth, Parmesan cheese, cabbage, egg yolks, cream, salt, and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Flemish Soup

Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Flemish Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth base

  1. Combine crumbed French rolls and veal broth in a large pot.

  2. Heat until nearly boiling.

  3. Mix in grated Parmesan cheese.

  4. Strain through a fine cloth.

Finish the soup

  1. Scald shredded cabbage.

  2. Add it to the soup.

  3. If desired, boil a chicken in the soup.

  4. Season with salt and a little cayenne pepper.

  5. Five minutes before serving, stir in egg yolks and 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.

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.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Parmesan cheese + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Parmesan cheese + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

French rolls
Soak up broth and thicken the soup body as they break down.
Veal broth
Provides the main liquid and savory meat flavor of the soup.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory, salty depth and umami to the broth.
Cabbage
Adds bulk, mild sweetness and a tender vegetable texture.
Egg yolks
Enrich the soup and thicken it slightly when stirred in without boiling.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Stir in egg yolks and cream off the heat-level. Egg yolks curdle and grainy if the soup boils after they are added, so keep it just below boiling while they thicken it.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, parmesan cheese, pepper, egg, cream):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, parmesan cheese, pepper, egg, cream. 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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