Name: Cock-a-leekie Soup a LA Frangaise
Ingredients: 1 pound of leeks; 1 pound of chicken; 4 cups of chicken broth; 1 tablespoon of butter; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste

Why it works: Leek and chicken work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 165 recipes. Both carry ethyl butyrate, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Cock-a-leekie Soup a LA Frangaise

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Clean and chop the leeks.

Make the soup

In a pot, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the leeks and sauté until soft.
Add the chicken and chicken broth.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper before serving.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Leek + chickentop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together165 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Leek + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together965 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Leek + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together848 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,958 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Leeks: Soften during sautéing and add mild, sweet onion-like flavour to the broth.
Chicken: Provides the main protein and savoury meaty flavour as it simmers in the broth.
Chicken broth: Forms the liquid base of the soup and carries flavour from the chicken and leeks.
Butter: Adds richness and helps soften the leeks gently before the liquid goes in.