Why it works: Celery and pepper 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 ↓
Vegetable Marrow Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the marrow thinly and cut it into thick slices, leaving the seeds.
Peel and slice the onion, and tie the celery seeds in a piece of muslin.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Make the soup
Add the marrow, onion, and celery seeds to the saucepan.
Toss over gentle heat for 5 minutes.
Add the stock or water and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Boil until tender, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.
Finish and serve
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with a little milk.
Stir the soup quickly into the yolks.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over gentle heat, being careful not to let it boil to avoid curdling.
If too thick, add more milk.
Serve with small dice of fried bread and grated Parmesan cheese.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Marrow
- Forms the bulk of the soup and gives it its body and mild flavour when cooked until tender.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the soup as they set gently with heat, giving a smooth, velvety texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour as the vegetables are softened in it.
- Onion
- Adds savoury depth and aroma as it softens and sweetens during cooking.
- Milk
- Thins the soup and adds creaminess when stirred into the yolks and soup.
The step that matters
Returning the soup to the heat with the egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heating, but if the mixture boils the proteins tighten and curdle, leaving a grainy texture. Keep the heat low and stir constantly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, butter, egg, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, butter, egg, milk, 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.
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