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Clear Tomato Soup

A clear soup made from tomatoes, water, onion, bay leaf, cloves, sugar, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Clear Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup base

  1. Combine tomatoes, water, onion, bay leaf, and cloves.

  2. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and butter.

  3. Boil the mixture for twenty minutes.

Finish the soup

  1. Strain the soup and return the liquid to the kettle.

  2. Add the cornstarch mixture mixed with water.

  3. Add butter and seasoning.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

681Calories
15 gProtein
13 gFat
124 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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

By Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [from old catalog]. 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.

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. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 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 and tangy flavor of the soup.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the base.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
Cornstarch
Thickens the soup as its starch swells when heated in liquid.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel at the end.

The step that matters

Adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be fully mixed with cold water first and stirred into the hot soup, or it clumps. The starch thickens only when the liquid is hot, so the soup should be brought back to a simmer while stirring.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, butter, onion):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, butter, onion. 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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