Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Put the canned tomatoes in a stew kettle and bring to a boil.
Add the baking soda and strain through a sieve to remove seeds.
Return the strained mixture to the stove and add the sweet milk.
Stir in the cornstarch, butter, pepper, and salt.
Let it come to a boil and serve with celery.
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 + celerytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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 tomato flavor of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes tomato acidity so the milk is less likely to curdle.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the creamy base that makes the soup rich and smooth.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the soup to a smooth, body-rich texture as it heats.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavor and a silkier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the sweet milk to the hot tomatoes. Baking soda has neutralized the tomato acid, but when acidic liquid and milk meet at high heat, the milk proteins can still curdle. Adding the milk to the reheated tomato mixture and keeping it from boiling hard helps it stay smooth.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, milk, butter, pepper):
- Thymefits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, milk, butter, 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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