Why it works: Tomato and corn 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 Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Scald the canned tomato and milk separately.
Thicken the milk with corn starch.
Combine the tomato and thickened milk, then strain the mixture.
Season with butter, coarse sea salt, black pepper, and sugar if desired.
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.
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Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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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
- Canned tomato
- Provides the main body and tomato flavor of the soup.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the tomato's acidity.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk so the finished bisque has a smooth, velvety body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Thickening the milk with corn starch. Corn starch must be mixed into the milk and heated so the starch granules swell and gelatinize. If lumps form or it isn't heated enough, the bisque stays thin or grainy.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, butter, pepper, sugar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, butter, pepper, sugar. 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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