Why it works: Beef and peas are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,044 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Another Peas Soup for Winter
Ingredients
Directions
In a stewpan, combine split peas and beef suet.
Add vegetables and white peppercorns.
Pour in enough water to cover the bottom of the stewpan.
Cook until the peas are soft.
Add consommé and stir well.
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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Beef + peastop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,044 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
- Split peas
- Form the body of the soup, thickening as they soften and break down during cooking.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat, giving the soup richness and a rounder mouthfeel.
- Consomme
- Adds savoury meat flavour and liquid to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Cook until the peas are soft. Split peas need enough time in liquid for their starches to fully gelatinise and break down. Stopping early leaves a grainy, unpleasant texture, while the thin water layer means the pan can scorch if it boils dry.
“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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