Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Dried Pea Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine the peas and bacon. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil.
Cook until the peas are tender enough to mash.
In a separate pot, boil the mutton or beef with salt, pepper, carrots, and turnips in 1 gallon of water for 2 hours.
Strain the cooked peas through a sieve and add to the meat and vegetable broth.
Let the soup boil for an additional hour before serving.
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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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,994 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Peas + turniptop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,350 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + turniptop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,252 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried peas
- Break down into a thick, starchy base that gives the soup its body.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and color as they soften into the broth.
- Turnips
- Contribute mild earthiness and soften to add body to the broth.
The step that matters
Strain the cooked peas through a sieve. Peas must be fully tender before straining; undercooked peas will not pass through and will leave a grainy, uneven texture in the soup.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, carrot, turnip):
- Lentilsfits better
- Beansfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, carrot, turnip. 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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