Skip to main content
Main

Clear Tomato Soup

A clear soup of tomatoes, stock, garlic, onion, parsley, sugar, salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Clear Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Add one quart of tomatoes.

  2. Add one quart of white stock or water.

  3. Add a dozen cloves.

  4. Add a small onion.

  5. Add a bunch of parsley.

  6. Add one tablespoonful of sugar.

  7. Add salt to taste.

  8. Boil together for one hour in a porcelain or agate kettle.

  9. Strain through a fine sieve.

Thicken and season

  1. Return to kettle and add one tablespoonful of cornstarch, rubbed into a smooth paste with cold water, and a piece of butter the size of an egg.

  2. Season with cayenne or black pepper.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

117Calories
0 gProtein
12 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
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 Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [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. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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, acidity and flavor of the soup.
Cornstarch (in the method)
Thickens the soup as it heats, giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Sugar (in the method)
Balances the acidity of the tomatoes with a touch of sweetness.

The step that matters

Rubbing cornstarch into cold water before adding it. Cornstarch clumps if added dry or to hot liquid without first being made into a smooth paste with cold water. Starch granules must be dispersed before heating, so they swell evenly and thicken the soup without lumps.

“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.

More tomato soup recipes

Cream 27Clear 14Creamed 10Creamy 8French 8with Rice 8 See all 632 →

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipesChicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipes