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Cream of Tomato Soup

A tomato soup thickened with flour and served with toasted buttered bread croutons.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Cream of Tomato Soup

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Combine the strained tomato juice, milk, baking soda, butter, salt, and cayenne pepper in a pot.

  2. Mix a little flour with water until smooth, then add the flour mixture to the soup to thicken.

  3. Heat the soup until very hot.

Make the croutons and serve

  1. Cut the bread into small squares, spread butter on them, and toast the buttered bread squares in the oven until browned.

  2. Add the toasted bread just before serving.

  3. Serve immediately.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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

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

  4. Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,013 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomato juice
Provides the main body and tomato flavour of the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the acidity of the tomatoes.
Baking soda
Neutralises some tomato acidity, which can cause milk to curdle when mixed.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the soup.
Flour
Thickens the soup as it heats, giving it a fuller texture.

The step that matters

Add the baking soda with the tomato juice before the milk curdles. Tomato juice is acidic and can cause milk to curdle when the two are combined. Baking soda neutralises acid, so it helps keep the soup smooth. Heating the soup gently after combining helps the flour thicken it evenly.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, pepper, flour, bread. 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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