Why it works: Onion and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Another White Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil the water in a large pot.
Add the veal, fowl, whole white pepper, mace, onions, and parsley.
Let it boil for 3 hours.
Strain the soup and return it to the pot to heat.
Finish and serve
Gradually stir in the cream and beaten egg yolks just before serving.
Do not let it boil after adding the cream and eggs to prevent curdling.
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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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,695 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
White pepper + parsleytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,451 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Mace + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,268 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Mace + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,078 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the meat and gelatin that give the broth its body and rich flavor.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the finished soup.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the soup slightly and add richness when stirred in gently.
- Fowl
- Adds additional meat and flavor to the long-simmered broth.
The step that matters
Do not let it boil after adding the cream and eggs. Egg yolks coagulate and curdle when overheated, so the soup must stay below a boil once the cream and yolks go in, and they should be added gradually to avoid scrambling.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, white pepper, mace, parsley, cream, egg):
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, white pepper, mace, parsley, cream, egg. 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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