Skip to main content
Main

Milk and Tomato Bisque, with Eggs--Starchless

A tomato bisque made with milk, water, eggs, and tomato, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Evora Bucknum Perkins · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,226 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Milk and Tomato Bisque, with Eggs--Starchless

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine 1½ cup rich milk, ½ cup water, ½ tablespoon oil or melted butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup strained tomato, and salt.

  2. Cook milk, water, oil and eggs the same as a boiled custard.

  3. Remove from fire, add the hot tomato gradually, stirring, then salt.

  4. Serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

249Calories
15 gProtein
14 gFat
17 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
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 Evora Bucknum Perkins. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Milk + tomatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,890 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

Eggs
Thicken the liquid as they cook, giving the bisque a smooth, custard-like body.
Rich milk
Forms the creamy base and adds richness and body to the bisque.
Strained tomato
Provides the main tomato flavor and acidity that defines the bisque.
Oil or melted butter (in the method)
Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and richer flavor.

The step that matters

Add the hot tomato gradually while stirring. Adding hot tomato to the eggs too quickly can scramble them. Adding it gradually while stirring tempers the eggs, so they blend in smoothly and the custard-like texture holds.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipesCream Tomato SoupCream Tomato Soup28 recipes