Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Game Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the meat from the bones of the cold game.
Combine the meat and trimmings with the stock and chopped vegetables.
Cook until the vegetables are tender, then strain them through a sieve.
Mince the meat and pound it in a mortar with a little stock.
Add the pounded meat and vegetables back to the strained soup.
Finish
When slightly cool, stir in the beaten eggs and milk, along with seasoning.
Heat the soup again, but do not let it boil.
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.
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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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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Carrot + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs thicken the soup gently when heated, giving it body and a smooth, velvety texture.
- Milk
- Milk adds richness and softens the flavour, helping the soup feel smooth and creamy.
- Carrots
- Carrots add sweetness and body to the stock as they cook down.
- Onions
- Onions contribute savoury depth and aroma as they soften in the stock.
The step that matters
Heat the soup again, but do not let it boil. Egg proteins in the soup set and curdle if overheated, which makes the soup grainy instead of smooth. Gentle heat keeps it silky.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, egg, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, egg, milk, 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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