Why it works: Turnip and parsnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 590 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pease Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Start the broth
Wash the feet well and place them in a boiler with cold water.
Bring to a boil and skim the surface.
Add the carrots, turnips, onions, parsnip, and celery.
Finish and serve
When the meat comes away from the bones, remove the feet and cut into small pieces.
Once the vegetables are tender, remove and chop them finely, then return to the soup.
Add the puree of peas to thicken the soup to your desired consistency.
Stir in the meat from the feet and hock, season with pepper, cayenne, and salt as needed, and serve hot.
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.
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Turnip + parsniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together590 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + parsniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,097 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,418 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Puree of peas
- Thickens the soup and gives it a smooth, full body.
- Onions
- Softens and sweetens as they cook, building the soup's base flavour.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and body as they soften in the broth.
- Celery
- Contributes savoury aroma and flavour to the simmering soup.
The step that matters
Skim the surface after boiling. Foam and scum rising during the first boil would cloud the soup and taint its flavour, so removing them keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, onion, parsnip, celery, pepper):
- Lentilsfits better
- Beansfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, onion, parsnip, celery, pepper. 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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