Why it works: Tomato and buttermilk work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 130 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the soup
In a large mixing bowl, beat the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, buttermilk, and oil.
Toss pureed avocado with 1 tablespoon lemon juice to hold the color.
Add the avocado, remaining lemon juice, and parsley to the tomato mixture; stir to mix well.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and a generous number of drops of hot pepper sauce.
Chill and serve
Refrigerate several hours before serving.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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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Tomato + buttermilktop 16% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together130 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,036 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Tomato + avocadotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,385 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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, liquid base, and tomato flavor of the soup.
- Buttermilk
- Adds tanginess and a creamy, smooth texture to the soup.
- Avocado
- Contributes a rich, creamy texture and fat that thickens the soup.
- Tomato paste
- Intensifies the tomato flavor and adds body and deeper color.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and carries flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity to brighten flavor and helps keep the avocado from browning.
The step that matters
Toss the avocado in lemon juice before mixing. Avocado flesh browns quickly when exposed to air because of enzymatic oxidation. Coating it with acidic lemon juice slows this browning and keeps the soup's color fresh-looking.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, buttermilk, olive, avocado, parsley, pepper, sauce):
- Limeabout as good a flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, buttermilk, olive, avocado, parsley, pepper, sauce. 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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