IllustrationWhy it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,118 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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
Combine tomatoes, onion, parsley, salt, pepper, and butter in a pot.
Let the mixture boil for fifteen minutes.
Add one-half teaspoon soda.
When the soup stops foaming, add one quart of hot milk.
Finish and serve
Strain the mixture and thicken slightly.
Strain the hot soup into hot cups that already contain a tablespoon of whipped cream.
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. See the original page.
The picture is an illustration, not a photo of this recipe · 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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together28,543 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Milk + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29,395 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Adds body and creaminess, softening the tomato's sharpness into a smooth bisque.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel to the soup.
- Soda
- Neutralizes some of the tomato's acidity, which also causes foaming when it reacts.
- Whipped cream
- Adds richness and a cooling, velvety layer to the hot soup.
The step that matters
Adding the milk after the foaming stops. Soda reacts with tomato acid and foams; adding hot milk while the mixture still foams can cause it to boil over or curdle, so the record's order of waiting for the foam to subside matters.
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, cream, pepper):
- Nutmegbetter flavor fit
- Cinnamonabout as good a flavor fit
- Maceabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, cream, 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.
More tomato bisque recipes
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.