Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Tomato Soup Without Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a pot, combine the tomatoes and water and cook thoroughly for about an hour over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the baking soda carefully to avoid overflow. After the fizzing has stopped, stir in the milk and season with salt and pepper.
Finish and serve
For a richer flavor, use more milk than water and substitute cream for butter.
Serve the soup with crackers.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the soup's main body and its tomato flavor as they cook down.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes tomato acidity, which makes the soup less sharp and helps it blend smoothly with milk.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the tomato's acidity.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda reacts with the tomato acid and releases carbon dioxide, causing a rapid foam that can overflow the pot. Add it slowly and let the fizzing stop before adding milk, so the soup does not curdle or boil over.
“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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