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Cauliflower Soup

A creamy cauliflower soup made with milk, butter, flour, cheese, and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Cauliflower Soup

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Cook the cauliflower in cold water until tender, then drain and press through a sieve.

  2. In a pot, cook the onion in butter, then add the flour and blend well.

Finish the soup

  1. Add the cauliflower mixture and seasonings, cooking for 5 minutes.

  2. Strain the soup, then stir in the slightly beaten egg yolk and cheese.

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cauliflower + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,113 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Cauliflower + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together935 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the main body and bulk of the soup as it is pressed into a purée.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk base so the soup becomes smooth and body-rich.
Butter
Carries the onion's flavour and adds richness to the roux.
Milk
Provides the liquid and creaminess that gives the soup its smooth texture.
Egg yolk
Enriches and thickens the finished soup when stirred in gently.
Cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Stirring in the egg yolk. Egg yolk thickens when heated, so if the soup is too hot when it is added the yolk can scramble and turn grainy. Add it off the heat or after the soup has cooled slightly, stirring constantly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, milk, butter, flour, cheese, egg, pepper):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, milk, butter, flour, cheese, egg, pepper. 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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