Name: Modern Cookery
Ingredients: 4 oz butter; 3 lbs vegetable marrow, pared and scooped; 4 large mild onions; 4 large cucumbers (or 6 middling-sized); 3 to 6 apples or tomatoes; 3 heaped tablespoons mild curry powder; 1 small tablespoon coarse sea salt; 2 quarts water, broth, or good stock

Why it works: Onion and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,050 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Modern Cookery

Ingredients

4 oz butter
3 lbs vegetable marrow, pared and scooped
4 large mild onions
4 large cucumbers (or 6 middling-sized)
3 to 6 apples or tomatoes
3 heaped tablespoons mild curry powder
1 small tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 quarts water, broth, or good stock

Directions

Melt the butter in a pot.
Add the vegetable marrow, onions, cucumbers, and apples or tomatoes.
Cook for 30 to 40 minutes until softened.
Stir in the curry powder and salt.
Add the water, broth, or stock and simmer for 20 to 32 minutes.
Serve the soup extremely hot.

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.

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.

Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + appletop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,706 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Cucumber + appletop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together363 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + appletop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,206 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

Vegetable marrow: Forms the bulk of the soup and softens into a tender, mild body as it cooks.
Onions: Soften and sweeten as they cook, building a savoury base for the curry flavour.
Curry powder: Supplies the spice blend that gives the soup its aroma and flavour.
Butter: Adds fat for cooking the vegetables and carries flavour and a rich mouthfeel.