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Cream Tomato Soup

A tomato soup thickened with milk and butter, sweetened with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Cream Tomato Soup

Why it works: Sugar and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Cream Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Strain one can of tomatoes and bring to a boil.

  2. Add salt, pepper, a level teaspoon of soda and one teaspoon of sugar.

  3. Then add one quart of rich milk and butter the size of an egg.

  4. Let it come to a boil.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

204Calories
8 gProtein
8 gFat
26 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they 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 (in the method)
Provide the main acidic, tangy flavor base of the soup.
Rich milk
Adds richness, creaminess and a smooth, full body to the soup.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for a rounder, silkier mouthfeel and richer flavor.
Baking soda (in the method)
Neutralizes some of the tomatoes' acidity, mellowing the flavor and helping prevent curdling.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to the hot tomatoes. Milk proteins can curdle when they meet hot, acidic tomatoes. The soda, added beforehand, lowers the acidity and helps keep the soup smooth, so the milk should be added and heated gently.

“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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