Why it works: Carrot and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Puree Oe Lentils
Ingredients
Directions
Make the puree
Rinse the lentils and stew them in stock with the carrots, clove, bacon, and butter.
Once cooked, pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Return the puree to the stock and stir well.
Finish and serve
Skim off any grease and 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.
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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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Lentils + carrottop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together505 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Lentils + clovetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together210 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Clove + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,045 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Carrot + buttertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,083 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lentils
- Break down into a thick, smooth puree that gives the soup its body.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and soft texture that blends into the puree.
- Bacon
- Adds savory, smoky fat that flavors the stock.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the finished puree.
The step that matters
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Lentils and carrots must be fully cooked so they press through smoothly. Undercooked pieces stay grainy and fibrous, and a fine sieve removes them along with skins for a silky texture.
Swap the lentils
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, clove, butter):
- Chickpeafits better
- Beansfits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Lentilsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, clove, butter. 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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