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Tomato Cream

A creamy tomato soup made by stewing tomatoes, adding butter, crackers, and milk, then serving hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,913 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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: egg, walnut

Directions

Make the tomato base

  1. Stew until tender 1 quart tomatoes either raw or canned.

  2. Strain.

  3. Put back on the fire and add a pinch of soda, salt and pepper to taste, butter the size of an egg, and 3 tablespoons rolled crackers.

  4. Take from the fire, and stir in 1 quart scalding hot milk.

  5. Serve immediately.

Make the milk version

  1. Stew 1 pint milk with a little chopped celery.

  2. Stew 1 can strained tomatoes 15 minutes with butter size of a walnut, salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of sugar.

  3. When ready to serve, stir into the hot milk, and serve immediately.

  4. Cook and strain 5 good sized tomatoes.

  5. Stew 5 minutes with a pinch of soda.

  6. Season with 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper and celery salt.

  7. Take up and stir in 1 pint scalded milk.

  8. Serve hot.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17,913 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,223 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Milk + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together77,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together26,983 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Sugar + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together19,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,855 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

Tomatoes
Provide the main body and acidic tomato flavour of the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and mellows the tomato acidity into a smooth soup.
Rolled crackers
Thicken the soup slightly by absorbing liquid and adding body.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the soup.
Baking soda
Neutralises some tomato acidity so the milk is less likely to curdle.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to the tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic, and when hot acidic liquid meets milk the milk proteins can curdle. Keep the milk hot rather than boiling, add it at the end, and serve right away to keep the soup smooth.

“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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