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Apple Soup

A soup made from mutton broth, cooking apples, ginger, and black pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Apple Soup

Why it works: Ginger and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,800 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Apple Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth

  1. Clear the fat from the broth and strain it through a fine sieve.

  2. Bring the broth to a boil and add the apples.

Cook and season

  1. Stew the apples gently until they become a smooth pulp, about 22 minutes.

  2. Press the mixture through a strainer.

  3. Stir in the ginger and pepper, and simmer for 2 minutes.

  4. Skim the soup and serve it very hot with boiled rice.

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. Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

  2. Apple + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,424 recipes

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

  3. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Apple + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,026 recipes

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

  5. Mutton + gingertop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together394 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton broth or beef stock
Forms the liquid base that carries the soup's savory flavor.
Cooking apples
Break down into a smooth pulp that thickens the soup and gives it body and sweetness.
Powdered ginger
Adds warm, aromatic spice that stands out against the apple.

The step that matters

Stewing the apples to a smooth pulp. The apples must cook fully soft so they break down and pass through the strainer. Undercooked pieces stay firm and leave a grainy texture, while gentle heat prevents scorching and keeps the pulp smooth.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, ginger, pepper):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, ginger, 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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