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
Boil the potatoes until soft, then drain and mash them.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, add flour, and a little of the soup mixture.
Let this mixture boil for three minutes, then add it to the soup.
Strain the soup and serve with croutons.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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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
- Potatoes
- Break down when boiled and mashed to give the soup its body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and richness to the soup base.
- Butter or dripping
- Fat that carries flavour and combines with flour to form a roux.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as it cooks in the butter and liquid.
- Onions
- Add savoury aroma and sweetness to the soup base.
The step that matters
Boiling the flour and butter mixture. Flour must boil for a few minutes so its starch cooks fully and swells. Undercooked flour leaves a raw, pasty taste and does not thicken properly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, milk, pepper, butter, flour):
- Chivefits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, milk, pepper, 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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