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 and place it in a large pot with 6 quarts of cold water.
Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt and bring to a gentle boil over moderate heat for 2 hours.
Skim the surface to remove impurities, then add 1 quart of shelled peas and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
Cover and boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes and finish
Scrape the skins from 1 quart of small young potatoes and add them to the soup.
Cover and boil for another 30 minutes.
In a bowl, work together ¼ pound of butter and 2 teaspoons of flour, then add to the soup 10-12 minutes before serving.
Serve the meat on a dish with parsley sauce and 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 flavour that gives the broth its body.
- Shelled peas
- Add sweetness and a soft, vegetal texture to the soup.
- Potatoes
- Soften during boiling and thicken the soup slightly with their starch.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
- All-purpose flour
- Works with the butter to thicken the soup as it is stirred in.
The step that matters
Adding the butter and flour mixture. Flour mixed with butter should be added near the end and stirred in well; if added in lumps or boiled too long, it can clump or lose its thickening power, leaving the soup grainy or uneven.
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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