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Peas Soup

A hearty soup made from split peas, broth, vegetables, herbs, and anchovy essence, served with toasted bread and mint.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Peas Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the split peas in cold water.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the peas with broth or cold soft water, carrot, celery, onions, thyme, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne.

Cook and strain

  1. Simmer gently over low heat for about 3 hours, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

  2. Strain and press the mixture through a coarse sieve.

  3. If not using pickled pork or bacon, mix in essence of anchovy, dripping or butter, and a little salt.

  4. Continue to simmer for another hour, stirring well.

Serve

  1. Serve in a soup tureen with toasted bread and powdered mint on the side.

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.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Lemon + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together957 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Split peas
Break down during long simmering to thicken the soup and give it body.
Broth
Supplies the liquid base and savoury flavour for the soup.
Onions
Add sweetness and aroma as they soften and release flavour into the base.
Celery
Contributes aromatic flavour as it simmers into the soup.
Dripping or butter
Adds fat, which carries flavour and gives a smoother, richer mouthfeel.
Essence of anchovy
Adds a salty, savoury depth that rounds out the soup's flavour.

The step that matters

Simmering and stirring the peas. Split peas settle and scorch on the bottom of the pan easily, so frequent stirring over low heat prevents sticking and burnt flavour while the peas break down.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, carrot, celery, onion, lemon, thyme, marjoram):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, carrot, celery, onion, lemon, thyme, marjoram. 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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