Why it works: Pepper and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Wash the soup bone carefully and place it in a well-scraped and cleaned pot.
Pour 3 quarts of cold water over the meat.
As it begins to boil, skim frequently until the scum ceases to rise.
Let it simmer or boil slowly for 4 to 5 hours.
Add the red pepper and ground black pepper.
Finish the soup
Pare and slice the potatoes and add them 30 minutes before serving along with the salt.
Mix the flour smoothly with milk or water and stir it into the soup.
Boil gently for a few minutes, then add the rich milk or cream just 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.
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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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Soup bone with flesh
- Gives the broth its meaty flavour as it simmers slowly in water.
- Potatoes
- Soften as they cook and add body and starch to the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as it is stirred in and gently boiled.
- Milk or cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, mellow body at the end.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum as it begins to boil. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the water heats. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting. Skim often until it stops rising.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, flour, milk):
- Capsicumfits better
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Parsnipfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, flour, 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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