Why it works: Mutton and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,488 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Carrot Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the broth with chopped carrots in a stewpan.
Cover and simmer on low heat for 2.5 hours until the carrots are soft.
If desired, add ½ cup of bread crumbs and boil for 2-3 minutes.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon.
Add more broth to achieve a thickness similar to pea soup.
Heat the soup in a clean stewpan and season with a little salt.
Serve with toasted bread on the side.
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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Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,488 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Carrot + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + carrottop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,878 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, bread):
- Tomatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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