Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Carrot Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine the broth, carrots, celery, and onion.
Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the carrots are soft.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve or colander to remove solids.
Return the pulp to the pot and add more broth to achieve a thick consistency.
Bring to a boil, then stir in the bread crumbs.
Boil for a few minutes, then season with salt and pepper before serving.
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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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carrots
- Provide the main body, sweetness and colour of the soup once simmered and pureed.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and thicken the soup as it boils.
- Celery
- Adds savoury, aromatic flavour to the broth base.
- Onion
- Adds savoury depth and aroma as it softens in the broth.
The step that matters
Return the pulp to the pot and add more broth to achieve a thick consistency. Sieving removes much of the liquid and fibre, so the thickness must be rebuilt deliberately. Adding broth gradually lets you control the final body, since bread crumbs thicken further as they boil.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, celery, bread, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, celery, bread, 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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