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Potato Soup

A simple soup made from boiled potatoes, onion, carrot, butter, and milk, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Potato Soup

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

  1. Cut the potatoes, onion, and carrot into small pieces.

  2. Boil the vegetables until tender.

Make the soup

  1. Pass the boiled vegetables through a colander.

  2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Stir in the butter and milk.

  4. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  5. 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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Starch that breaks down when boiled, thickening the soup and giving it body.
Milk
Adds creaminess and richness, making the soup smooth and mellow.
Butter
Adds fat for richer flavor and a silkier mouthfeel.
Onion
Contributes savory aroma and sweetness as it softens during boiling.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and body to the soup base.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture to a boil after adding milk. Milk can scorch or curdle if it boils too hard or for too long. Keep the heat controlled once the butter and milk are stirred in so the soup stays smooth.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, butter, milk, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Carrotthe original
  4. Leekfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, butter, milk, 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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