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Parsley Soup

A simple soup made with water, parsley, oil, and a roux of flour and oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,675 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Parsley Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine 2 tablespoons of oil and 3 pints of water in a pot.

  2. Add a bunch of parsley.

  3. Bring to a boil.

  4. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Make the roux and finish

  1. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil and ½ tablespoon of white flour in a frying pan over medium heat.

  2. Stir continuously until browned to a golden color.

  3. Gradually add hot water to the browned mixture.

  4. Stir until it becomes liquid.

  5. Pour the liquid into the broth.

  6. Let it boil together for 1 minute.

  7. Serve.

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. Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Parsley
Provides the main herbal flavor and green color of the soup.
White flour
Browns in the oil and thickens the liquid when combined with it.
Oil
Carries flavor and browns with the flour to form the base for thickening.

The step that matters

Stir the flour and oil until golden. Flour browned in oil builds flavor and thickening power, but it can scorch quickly over medium heat. Stirring continuously keeps it evenly colored and prevents bitter, burnt notes.

“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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