Why it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Old Peas Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil 4 quarts of water with the ham or bacon, mutton or salt beef, and split peas in a large pot.
Cook gently until the peas are soft.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and mash the peas with the back of a spoon until pulped.
Return the soup to the pot and simmer gently for 1 hour before serving.
Serve
Toast slices of bread, cut into dice, and fry in butter if desired.
Serve the fried bread in the soup or on the side, with dried mint in a small dish.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Pepper + minttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,372 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Peas + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Split peas
- Break down into pulp to thicken the soup and give it body.
- Ham or bacon
- Adds savoury, salty flavour to the broth as it simmers.
- Mutton or salt beef
- Adds meaty richness and depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Cook gently until the peas are soft. Vigorous boiling can break peas apart unevenly and cloud the broth, while gentle heat lets them soften fully so they pulp smoothly when mashed and strained.
Swap the mint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, mutton, peas, pepper, butter, bread):
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits about as well
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Mintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, mutton, peas, pepper, butter, 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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