Name: Pea Soup
Ingredients: 2 cups peas; 4 cups beef broth; 1 onion, chopped; 2 carrots, diced; 2 potatoes, diced; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pea Soup

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.

Combine peas and beef broth in a pot.
Bring to a boil.
Add onion, carrots, and potatoes.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Blend until smooth if desired.
Serve hot.

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.

Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Peas: Form the body of the soup and add sweetness and substance when simmered.
Beef broth: Provides the liquid base and savory depth that carries the other ingredients.
Potatoes: Break down slightly during simmering to thicken the soup and add body.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and a firmer texture that holds up to simmering.
Onion: Adds aromatic savory flavour as it softens in the broth.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, carrot, potato, pepper):

Beansfits better
Sesamefits better
Chickpeafits better
Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, carrot, potato, pepper. 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.