Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Boil or steam the potatoes until very dry.
Mash the boiled potatoes smoothly with a fork.
Make the soup
Gradually add the mashed potatoes to the boiling stock.
Pass the mixture through a sieve.
Season with pepper and salt, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Skim well and serve with fried bread.
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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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together434 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mealy potatoes
- Their dry, floury starch thickens the stock and gives the soup a smooth body.
- Medium stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the potato flavour and gives the soup its savoury depth.
The step that matters
Gradually add the mashed potatoes to the boiling stock. Adding potato slowly to hot liquid and stirring helps it disperse evenly, preventing lumps and a gluey texture. Dry potatoes absorb liquid better, so they blend in more smoothly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, bread):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Spinachfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, bread. 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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