Why it works: Chervil and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 795 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the soup
Prepare a brown puree of turnips.
Mix in ½ cup of tomatoes.
Before serving, combine 4 washed, filleted, and pounded anchovies with 1 clove of garlic and 2 tablespoons of butter, passing through a fine sieve.
Serve
Pour the soup into a tureen containing 4 dozen small potato quenelles and a handful of parboiled chervil and tarragon leaves.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the side.
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.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Chervil + tarragontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together795 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Tomato + garlictop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tomato + potatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,797 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Garlic + potatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,512 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Turnip + cherviltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together184 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turnips
- Form the brown puree that gives the soup its body and earthy flavour.
- Tomatoes (in the method)
- Add acidity and colour to the puree.
- Anchovies
- Add a savoury, salty depth that rounds out the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, fatty mouthfeel.
- Potato quenelles
- Give the soup substance and a soft, starchy texture.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds a salty, nutty flavour when sprinkled on top.
The step that matters
Passing the anchovy and butter mixture through a fine sieve. Pounded anchovies and garlic can leave coarse bits that spoil the smooth texture. Sieving breaks them down and removes fibres, so the butter blends evenly into the soup.
Flavor stand-ins for the turnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, garlic, butter, potato, chervil, tarragon, parmesan cheese):
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Asparagusbetter flavor fit
- Lettucebetter flavor fit
- Turnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, garlic, butter, potato, chervil, tarragon, parmesan cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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