Why it works: Celery and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,377 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Boil the knuckle of veal, beef bone, and celery in water until tender.
Strain the broth and add part of the can of tomatoes.
Cook for 30 minutes and strain again.
Finish the soup
In a bowl, mix the cracker powder with the cream.
Add some of the soup to the cream mixture and mix thoroughly.
Pour the mixture back into the pot and boil gently for a few minutes 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Beef + celerytop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,370 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Veal + tomatotop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together709 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main flavour and acidity that give the soup its character.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky body to the finished soup.
- Cracker powder
- Acts as a thickener, helping the cream blend into the soup with a fuller texture.
- Beef bone
- Releases gelatin and savoury depth into the broth as it simmers.
The step that matters
Adding the cream mixture back to the soup. Cream can curdle if it is added to very hot or boiling liquid. Tempering it with some hot soup first and then heating gently helps keep it smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, tomato, cream):
- Celerythe original
- Pepperabout as good a flavor fit
- Garlicabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, tomato, cream. 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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