Why it works: Cucumber and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Green Peas Soup, Without Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil the peas in 3 quarts of water with salt and baking soda until tender.
Drain the peas and pound them in a mortar.
Gradually mix in 5 pints of the cooking liquid.
Return the mixture to the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Press the soup through a fine sieve.
Cook the vegetables
In a separate pan, simmer the butter with the cucumbers, lettuce hearts, and onions until tender.
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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Cucumber + lettucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + lettucetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Peas + cucumbertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together629 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,562 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,050 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
- Large peas
- Break down into a thick purée that gives the soup its body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour from the vegetables into the soup.
- Cucumbers
- Add a mild, fresh flavour and soft texture once simmered.
- Lettuce hearts
- Soften when simmered, adding tender body and a gentle vegetal sweetness.
- Onions
- Add savoury depth and aroma as they soften in butter.
The step that matters
Press the soup through a fine sieve. Pounded peas still hold tough skins and fibres; pressing them through a fine sieve removes these, giving a smooth, even texture.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, butter, cucumber, lettuce):
- Beetrootfits better
- Cauliflowerfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, cucumber, lettuce. 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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