Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Cook the tomatoes thoroughly and press them through a sieve. If using canned tomatoes, skip the cooking step.
Add baking soda to the tomato pulp.
Make the soup
In a saucepan, melt the butter until it bubbles.
Stir in the flour and cook until it is lightly browned.
Gradually add the hot milk, stirring constantly.
Season with cayenne pepper and salt.
When the mixture boils, add the tomato pulp and heat thoroughly without boiling.
Serve
Serve immediately, garnished with cracker crumbs.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body, flavor and acidity of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes tomato acidity so the milk is less likely to curdle.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and forms the base for the flour roux.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, body-giving sauce when cooked with butter.
- Milk
- Creates the creamy base that gives the soup its smooth texture.
The step that matters
Add the tomato pulp to the milk mixture without boiling. Once the acidic tomato meets hot milk it can curdle, and boiling makes this more likely. Heating it gently keeps the soup smooth.
“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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