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Potato Soup

A simple soup made with carrots, onions, potatoes, butter, milk, pepper, and salt.

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

Why it works: Onion and potato 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. Chop the carrot, onion, and potatoes finely.

Cook and strain

  1. Boil the vegetables until tender.

  2. Pass the mixture through a colander.

Finish

  1. Add pepper, salt, butter, and milk.

  2. Bring to a boil and 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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Carrot + potatotop 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. Carrot + oniontop 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 breaks down during boiling and thickens the soup, giving it body.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the soup richer and smoother on the palate.
Milk
Adds liquid and creaminess, softening the flavor of the vegetables.
Onion
Provides a savory aromatic base that deepens the soup's flavor as it cooks.
Carrot
Contributes mild sweetness and a light color to the soup.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil and serve. Milk can scorch on the bottom of the pot or separate if it boils hard. Heat it gently, stirring, and stop as soon as it is hot and bubbling at the edges.

Swap the carrot

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

  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 onion, potato, pepper, butter, milk. 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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