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A Richer White Soup

A creamy soup made from almonds, veal stock, and cream, finished with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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A Richer White Soup

Why it works: Chicken and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,243 recipes. Both carry 3-butanedione, which smells buttery, creamy. The science ↓

A Richer White Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Finely pound the almonds.

  2. Add the roasted chicken or partridge breasts and the soaked bread, then beat to a smooth paste.

  3. Gradually pour in the boiling veal stock, stirring continuously.

  4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and return it to the heat.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the thick cream and heat until just boiling.

  2. Serve immediately with a French roll in the tureen.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Chicken + vealtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).

  2. Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,258 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).

  3. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Bread + vealtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,056 recipes

    Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).

  5. Almond + breadtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together858 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the soup once pounded into a paste.
White bread
Adds body and helps thicken the soup into a smooth, creamy texture.
Roasted chicken or partridge breasts
Contribute savoury meat flavour and body to the soup base.
Veal stock
Forms the liquid base and adds rich savoury depth.
Thick cream
Adds richness and a silky, smooth mouthfeel at the end.

The step that matters

Gradually pour in the boiling veal stock, stirring continuously. Adding hot liquid slowly while stirring keeps the almond and bread paste smooth and prevents lumps from forming. Stirring spreads the heat evenly so the starches and proteins disperse rather than clump.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, chicken, bread, veal, cream):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, chicken, bread, veal, cream. 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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