Why it works: Asparagus and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 274 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓
Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Cut off the points of the asparagus and set them aside.
Trim the stalks and cut them into small pieces.
Wash and pick the spinach.
In a stewpan, bring the stock or water to a boil.
Add the asparagus and spinach, and cook until tender, about 40 minutes.
Rub through a fine sieve.
In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add a little salt. Cook the asparagus points for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the soup
Melt the butter in the stewpan. Sprinkle in the flour. Add the milk and stir until it boils.
Add the stock and the pureed asparagus and spinach.
Season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Serve
Place the asparagus points into a tureen.
Add the cream and necessary seasoning to the soup. Serve.
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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Asparagus + spinachtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together274 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,400 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,968 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
- Asparagus
- Gives the soup its main flavor and, once puréed, its body and green color.
- Spinach
- Adds extra green color and a soft, earthy depth to the purée.
- Butter
- Enriches the soup with fat and rich flavor when melted with the flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and stock into a smoother, more body-filled soup.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the vegetable flavor.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Stirring the flour into the melted butter and milk. Flour must be cooked in the butter before liquid is added and stirred until it boils, so it thickens smoothly without lumps or a raw starchy taste.
Swap the asparagus
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, spinach, butter, flour, cream, pepper):
- Potatofits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Asparagusthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, spinach, butter, flour, cream, 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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