Why it works: Peas and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,016 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Green Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lamb
Wash the lamb in cold water.
Place the lamb in a soup pot with 6 quarts of cold water.
Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt.
Cook the soup
Bring the soup to a gentle boil over moderate heat for 2 hours, skimming as needed.
Add 1 quart of shelled peas.
Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
Cover the pot.
Boil for 30 minutes.
Scrape the skins from 1 quart of small young potatoes.
Add the skins to the soup.
Cover the pot.
Boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Thicken and serve
In a bowl, work together ¼ pound of butter and 2 teaspoons of flour.
Add the butter and flour mixture to the soup 10-12 minutes before serving.
Serve the meat on a dish with parsley sauce.
Serve the soup in a tureen.
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.
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Peas + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,016 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lamb + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together520 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb
- Provides the meat and rich, savory flavor that forms the base of the broth.
- Shelled peas
- Give the soup its main vegetable body, sweetness and bright green color.
- Small young potatoes
- Add starch that softens during cooking and lightly thickens the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- All-purpose flour
- Works with the butter to thicken the soup and give it a smoother body.
The step that matters
Adding the butter and flour mixture. Flour clumps if dropped in dry or added to boiling liquid all at once. Working it into the butter first and stirring it into the simmering soup near the end lets it thicken smoothly.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, potato, butter, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Beansfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, potato, butter, flour. 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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