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Soup

Cream of Tomato Soup

A cream soup made from tomatoes, milk, butter and flour, with beef stock in one version.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Cream of Tomato Soup

Why it works: Onion and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the milk

  1. Scald milk with onions.

  2. Remove onions.

  3. Make a white sauce of milk, butter, flour and seasoning.

Cook the tomatoes

  1. Cook tomatoes with sugar fifteen minutes.

  2. Add soda.

  3. Rub through sieve.

  4. Combine mixture and strain.

  5. Simmer one-half can tomatoes, butter and onion size of an egg on back of range for two hours.

Make the roux and combine

  1. Put one tablespoonful flour and one tablespoonful butter in saucepan.

  2. When browned nicely, add one cube sugar and one cupful beef stock.

  3. Let come to a boil and add one cupful sweet milk.

  4. Season to taste.

  5. Put ingredients together just before serving.

Serve

  1. Serve hot with chopped parsley or water cress and one teaspoonful whipped cream on top of each plate.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1106Calories
49 gProtein
41 gFat
132 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6

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. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together738 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 body, colour and tomato flavour of the soup.
Flour
Thickens the white sauce and the browned roux, giving the soup body.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavour while forming the base of the roux.
Milk
Forms the creamy base of the white sauce and gives the soup its smooth body.
Sugar
Balances the acidity of the tomatoes and adds mild sweetness.
Beef stock
Adds savoury depth to the browned roux base.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to the hot tomato mixture. Tomato acid can curdle milk proteins when they meet at high heat. Bringing the mixture to a boil after adding milk, or combining just before serving, can cause separation, so keep the heat gentle and the soup smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, flour, pepper, butter, beef, tea):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, flour, pepper, butter, beef, tea. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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