Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the asparagus
Cut off the tips of the asparagus and place them in cold water.
Slice the remaining asparagus, discarding the hard ends.
Boil the sliced asparagus in water until tender.
Press the cooked asparagus through a sieve.
Make the soup
In a pot, combine the melted butter, thickened milk (mixed with flour), and cream.
Stir the mixture until it boils.
Add the asparagus tips, stock, and seasoning.
Simmer for about 10 minutes until the tips are cooked but not broken.
Serve with or without fried croutons, according to taste.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Asparagus + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together936 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Asparagus
- Provides the main flavour and, once pressed through a sieve, the body of the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk so the soup becomes smooth and velvety rather than thin.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour when melted into the base.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that the flour thickens.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silkier mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- Medium stock
- Supplies savoury depth and the liquid that loosens the soup.
The step that matters
Stirring the thickened milk until it boils. Flour needs to be heated fully so its starch swells and thickens the milk; if it is undercooked the soup can taste pasty and stay thin. Stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the base of the pot.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, milk, cream, flour, butter):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, milk, cream, flour, butter. 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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