Name: Cock-a-leeky Soup
Ingredients: 1 scrag of mutton or small knuckle of veal; 1 large fowl; 3-4 large leeks, cut into ½ inch pieces; 3 quarts of good broth; pepper to taste; coarse sea salt to taste

Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,442 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

In a large pot, combine the mutton or veal, fowl, and leeks.
Simmer in the broth for 1 hour.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Add more leeks and boil for an additional 45 minutes.
Serve the soup with all ingredients together.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Mutton + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,442 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Mutton + leektop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together226 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Leek + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together965 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton or veal: Gives the broth body and rich, savory flavor as it simmers.
Fowl: Adds deep meaty flavor and tender meat to the soup as it simmers.
Leeks: Soften during simmering and contribute a mild, sweet onion-like flavor.
Broth: Forms the cooking liquid that carries the flavor of the meats and leeks.

“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.