Why it works: Butter and milk 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
Prepare the tomatoes
Stew 1 ½ cups of strained tomatoes slowly for 15 minutes.
Strain the tomatoes. Measure ½ cup.
Add baking soda to the hot strained tomatoes.
Make the sauce
Melt butter in a separate pan.
Stir in flour to make a white sauce.
Combine and serve
Combine the white sauce with the strained tomato mixture.
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Strained tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity and flavour of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some tomato acid, reducing sharpness and affecting colour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour into the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk into a white sauce that gives the soup body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the tomato's tang.
The step that matters
Adding baking soda to the hot tomatoes. Baking soda reacts with tomato acid and releases carbon dioxide, which can foam up sharply. Adding it to hot tomatoes speeds the reaction, so it should be stirred in gradually in a pan with room to rise, and the mixture should not be left to sit before combining with the sauce.
Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, flour, milk):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Jalapenobetter flavor fit
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, flour, milk. 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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