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Puree of Green Peas

A creamy puree of green peas with ham, onion, broth, cream, eggs, butter, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Puree of Green Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Strain the peas and place them in a saucepan.

  2. Add the ham, onion, and beef broth; bring to a boil for 1 hour.

  3. Remove the ham and onion, then press the soup through a fine sieve.

Finish and serve

  1. Return the soup to the heat and add the hot cream; season with salt and pepper.

  2. Beat the egg yolks with the cream and stir into the soup.

  3. Add the butter and stir until melted and mixed.

  4. Garnish with chopped parsley 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.

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 + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 recipes

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

  5. Peas + clovetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together739 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Green peas
Form the main body and flavour of the puree once pressed smooth.
Egg yolks
Thicken the soup and give it a smooth, rich body when gently stirred in.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel as it melts into the soup.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother, creamier texture to the soup.

The step that matters

Stirring in the egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat; if the soup is too hot when they are added, they can scramble and turn grainy. Keep the soup warm, not boiling, and stir steadily.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, ham, onion, beef, cream, egg, butter):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, ham, onion, beef, cream, egg, butter. 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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