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Tomato Bisque

A rich soup made from simmered tomatoes, bone broth, milk, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Tomato Bisque

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Tomato Bisque

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Soak the porter-house roast bone in 1 quart of cold water for 1 hour.

  2. Bring the water to a boil and simmer for about 4 hours until reduced to 1 cup.

  3. Add ½ cup of tomatoes mixed with 2 teaspoons of flour and 1 teaspoon of onion juice.

  4. Boil gently for 30 minutes.

  5. Strain the mixture.

  6. Skim off the fat and return to the pot.

Finish and serve

  1. Dissolve a pinch of baking soda in ½ cup of fresh rich milk.

  2. Add the mixture to the pot.

  3. Stir well while heating.

  4. Bring to a boil.

  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  6. Serve.

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

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

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

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

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  4. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,226 recipes

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

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Porter-house roast bone
Simmered for hours to release flavour and body into the liquid.
Tomatoes
Provide acidity and tomato flavour to the bisque.
Flour
Thickens the liquid so the bisque has a smooth body.
Fresh rich milk
Adds creaminess and a rounder, richer mouthfeel.
Baking soda
Neutralises some acidity from the tomatoes, softening their sharpness.

The step that matters

Adding the milk and baking soda. Baking soda raises pH and acidic tomatoes can curdle milk when they are heated together. Dissolving the soda in the milk first and heating gently while stirring helps keep the bisque smooth instead of grainy or separated.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, flour, 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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