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Cream of Tomato Soup

A tomato soup thickened with milk and cornstarch, served hot with buttered croutons.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Cream of Tomato Soup

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 ↓

Cream of Tomato Soup

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the tomato base

  1. Combine water, cloves, canned tomatoes, onion, sugar, and parsley in a pot.

  2. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes.

  3. Add baking soda.

  4. Strain the mixture after a few minutes.

Make the milk base

  1. In a separate saucepan, thicken the milk with cornstarch over medium heat.

  2. Add salt, cayenne, and butter to the thickened milk.

Combine and serve

  1. Combine the milk mixture with the strained tomatoes.

  2. Heat thoroughly.

  3. Butter slices of stale bread.

  4. Cut them into 1-inch squares.

  5. Brown lightly in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

  6. Serve the soup hot with croutons on top.

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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

Canned tomatoes
Provide the main body, acidity and flavour of the soup.
Milk
Creates the creamy, smooth base of the soup.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk so the soup has a velvety body.
Baking soda
Neutralises some tomato acidity, mellowing the soup's sharpness.
Butter
Adds richness and a rounded, silky mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Adding baking soda to the tomatoes. Baking soda reacts with tomato acid and can make the soup foam and taste soapy if added carelessly. Adding it in small amounts and stirring, then straining after a few minutes, lets the reaction settle before the milk is combined.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, tomato, sugar, parsley, milk, pepper, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, tomato, sugar, parsley, milk, pepper, butter. 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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