Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 78,219 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Scald 1 quart milk in a double boiler.
Melt 1 cup butter in a sauce pan.
Stir 3 tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper into the butter.
When smooth, stir the mixture into the hot milk.
Allow to cook for ten minutes, stirring until smooth.
Prepare the tomatoes
Cook 1 can tomatoes until soft.
Mash the tomatoes through a strainer and add % teaspoon soda.
Combine and serve
When ready to serve, combine the tomato and milk together.
Serve immediately to prevent curdling.
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.
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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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 78,219 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid body of the soup and carries the creamy texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, body-rich sauce when cooked with butter.
- Butter (in the method)
- Enriches the flavor and helps form the roux that thickens the soup.
- Tomatoes (in the method)
- Provide the main flavor and acidity of the soup.
The step that matters
Serve immediately after combining the tomato and milk. Acidic tomato can cause hot milk to curdle, so the soup should be combined just before serving and served right away.
“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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