Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Another Scotch Hare Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Cut the meat into large pieces.
Stew the bones in 3 quarts of water with celery, onions, black pepper, salt, and cold meat bones.
Make the thickening
Brown the rice in a pan.
Mix the browned rice with the browned butter.
Break the blood of the hare in water.
Strain the blood.
Add the strained blood cold to the browned rice.
Stir constantly until it boils.
Finish the soup
Add the strained stock and pieces of hare.
Stew everything together until fully cooked.
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.
-
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Celery + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,169 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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
- Rice
- Browned rice thickens the soup and gives it body as it cooks.
- Blood of the hare
- Blood thickens the soup and adds richness and a deep, dark colour.
- Browned butter
- Adds a nutty, toasted aroma and rich fat flavour to the soup.
- Cold-meat bones
- Release gelatin and savoury flavour into the stock as they stew.
The step that matters
Stir constantly until it boils. Blood thickens and can curdle or scorch if it overheats or sits still. Constant stirring keeps it smooth as it heats and sets the texture evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, pepper, meat, rice, butter):
- Carrotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, pepper, meat, rice, butter. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Rice Fritters84 recipes
Meat Croquettes52 recipes
Steamed Rice48 recipes