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Tomato Bisque

A creamy tomato bisque made with tomatoes, onion, parsley, butter, milk, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Tomato Bisque

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato Bisque

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. In a pot, combine the tomatoes, onion, parsley, salt, pepper, and butter.

  2. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.

  3. Add the baking soda and wait for it to stop foaming.

  4. Stir in the hot milk and strain the mixture.

Serve

  1. Thicken slightly, then strain hot into cups with a tablespoon of whipped cream in each.

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.

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.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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 bisque.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and rounder flavour.
Baking soda
Neutralises tomato acidity, which reduces sharpness and makes the soup taste milder.
Hot milk
Adds creaminess and body, softening the tomato base into a bisque.
Whipped cream
Adds richness and a cool, creamy topping to each serving.

The step that matters

Add the baking soda slowly. Baking soda reacts with tomato acid and releases carbon dioxide, causing foaming that can boil over. Adding it gradually and waiting for the foam to settle keeps the pot under control and avoids a bitter, soapy taste from excess soda.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, parsley, pepper, butter, milk, cream):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, parsley, pepper, butter, milk, cream. 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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