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 ↓
Cucumber Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Peel the cucumber and slice it into small pieces.
Trim, wash, drain and coarsely shred the lettuces.
Blanch the cucumber and lettuces in salted water with a small piece of baking soda.
Strain the vegetables.
Make the soup
Place the vegetables in a saucepan with the butter and stir for a few minutes.
Add the stock.
Mix the cornflour with a little cold milk and stir the mixture into the soup.
Cook for about 30 minutes.
Strain the soup through a sieve and return it to the saucepan.
Finish and serve
Stir together the egg yolks and cream in a bowl, then pour the mixture into the soup.
Stir the soup over low heat for a few seconds.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the fried bread croutons in a soup tureen, pour the soup over them, and serve immediately.
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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Cucumber + lettucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,991 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
- Cucumber
- Provides the main fresh, mild flavour and bulk of the soup.
- Lettuces
- Adds body and a soft green vegetable base that thickens the soup as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour while the vegetables are softened.
- Egg yolks
- Enriches and thickens the soup when stirred in with cream, giving a smooth texture.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the soup, giving it a smooth, creamy body.
- White stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the vegetables and seasoning.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolk and cream mixture. Egg yolks thicken when heated, so if the soup boils after they go in they can curdle and turn grainy. Keep the heat low and stir only until the soup thickens.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, pepper, lettuce, cream, bread):
- Spinachfits better
- Leekfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, pepper, lettuce, cream, bread. 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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