Name: Potato Soup
Ingredients: 1 lb neck of mutton; 2 lbs potatoes; 1 carrot, grated; 3 onions, finely chopped; pepper to taste; coarse sea salt to taste; 3 quarts cold water

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soup

Place the mutton in a pot with 3 quarts of cold water and bring to a boil.
Thinly pare and slice the potatoes, then add them to the boiling soup.
Add the grated carrot and finely chopped onions, along with pepper and salt.

Cook and serve

Boil for 2 hours.
Season to taste.
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.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 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

Neck of mutton: Releases flavour and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and savoury depth.
Potatoes: Break down partly as they simmer, thickening the soup and adding starchy body.
Onions: Soften and sweeten as they cook, building a savoury base for the broth.
Carrot: Adds gentle sweetness and colour to the broth as it simmers.