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Cream of Tomato Soup

A tomato-based soup thickened with flour and butter, flavored with soda, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 27 ingredients
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Illustration of Cream of Tomato SoupIllustration

Why it works: Cream and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,034 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: flour

Directions

  1. Heat the milk to a boiling point.

  2. Stir in the flour that has been wet and stirred smooth.

  3. Add the tomatoes.

  4. Add the soda that has been dissolved in a cup of boiling hot water.

  5. Add butter and salt to taste.

By Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [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.

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.

  1. Cream + tomatotop 21% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together2,034 recipes

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

  2. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Thyme + parsniptop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together270 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour (in the method)
Thickens the liquid as it heats, giving the soup body.
Soda (in the method)
Neutralises the tomatoes' acidity and softens their sharp flavour.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Supply the main flavour and the acidity that the soda then balances.
Milk (in the method)
Adds moisture and creaminess to the soup.
Butter
Adds fat, richness and a rounder flavour at the end.

The step that matters

Add the soda that has been dissolved in a cup of boiling hot water.. Soda reacts with acid in the tomatoes and releases carbon dioxide, causing foaming. Added too fast or to a very acidic, hot mixture, it can curdle the milk. Add it slowly and stir well.

Flavor stand-ins for the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (thyme, marjoram, parsley, butter, egg, potato, parsnip):

  1. Walnutthe original
  2. Peasabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Beansabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against thyme, marjoram, parsley, butter, egg, potato, parsnip. 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.

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