Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the peas
Boil the soaked peas in 2 quarts of water for 2 to 2½ hours until soft.
Gently stew the peas in 3 to 4 quarts of beef broth for 1 hour.
Finish and serve
Work the mixture through a sieve to create a smooth soup.
Reheat the soup as needed.
Season with salt and cayenne or black pepper.
Serve with fried or toasted bread.
Add stewed celery for extra flavor if desired.
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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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).
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Peas + celerytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,032 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried peas
- Break down into starch and body, thickening the soup as they soften.
- Beef broth
- Adds savory depth and liquid that carries the flavor of the soup.
The step that matters
Work the mixture through a sieve. Pushing the cooked peas through a sieve breaks down their skins and fibres, giving the soup a smooth texture rather than a grainy one.
Swap the celery
The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, beef, pepper, bread):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Thymefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, beef, pepper, bread. 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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