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 ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion and sauté until soft.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook for 5 minutes.
Gradually add the skimmed milk, stirring constantly.
Season with salt and pepper, and heat through without boiling.
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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Canned tomato puree
- Provides the main tomato flavour and the body of the soup.
- Skimmed milk
- Adds creaminess and a smooth, mellow texture to the soup.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and carries flavour from the pan into the soup.
- Onion
- Adds savoury depth and a mild sweetness as it softens in the butter.
The step that matters
Adding the skimmed milk. Milk can curdle or separate when it meets acidic tomato and gets too hot. Adding it gradually while stirring, and heating without boiling, keeps the soup smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, milk, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe 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. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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