Why it works: Corn and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,099 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Stew the tomatoes and strain them.
Add the soda to remove the acid.
Make the bisque
Put the milk in a double boiler and, when scalding hot, add the cornstarch wet with a little cold milk.
Let cook for five minutes; then add butter, salt, and pepper.
Put all together and let boil up.
Serve
Serve very hot with bread cut into dice and browned in the oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main flavor and the body of the soup.
- Soda
- Neutralizes the tomatoes' acid, making the soup milder and less sharp.
- Cornstarch (in the method)
- Thickens the hot milk into a smooth, velvety body.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base that the tomatoes are combined with.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch to the milk. Cornstarch clumps if dropped into hot liquid dry. Mixing it into a little cold milk first spreads the granules evenly, so when the milk heats, the starch swells and thickens the bisque smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, butter, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Tomatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, butter, milk, pepper. 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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