Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,092 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Cut the beef shin into small pieces and crush the bone.
Place the meat and bone in a soup kettle with the cold water.
Cover and heat slowly until boiling.
Uncover and remove scum.
Re-cover and boil slowly for 2.5 hours.
Finish the soup
Add the tomatoes, onions, bread crumbs, red pepper, and salt.
Cover and boil very slowly for 6 hours.
Strain the soup if desired; the tomatoes do not need to be peeled.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Releases gelatin and savory flavor into the broth during long simmering.
- Tomatoes
- Provide acidity, bright flavor and body as they break down into the soup.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aromatic depth as they soften over the long simmer.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and thicken the soup slightly, adding body.
The step that matters
Keep the soup at a very slow boil for the final 6 hours. A vigorous boil can break up the solids and cloud the broth, while a very slow simmer lets the meat and bone release flavor and gelatin gently and keeps the soup clearer.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, tomato, bread, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, tomato, bread, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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