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Tomato Soup

A tomato soup made with canned tomatoes, water, oatmeal, onion, celery or parsley, sugar, salt, pepper, baking soda, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Tomato Soup

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

Make the soup

  1. In a pot, combine the tomatoes, water, oatmeal, chopped onion, celery or parsley, sugar, salt, and pepper.

  2. Boil for 45 minutes.

  3. Add the baking soda and strain the mixture.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir in the butter and bring to a boil once more before serving.

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. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provide the main body, acidity and flavour of the soup.
Oatmeal
Thickens the soup and adds body as it cooks.
Baking soda
Neutralises some of the tomato acidity, mellowing the flavour and changing its colour.
Butter
Adds richness and a smoother mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the tomatoes with a touch of sweetness.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda. Baking soda reacts with tomato acids and can make the soup foam up and lose its bright flavour if added in large amounts. Add the measured amount once, then strain, so the acidity is softened without making the soup taste soapy or flat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, celery, sugar, pepper, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, celery, sugar, pepper, butter. 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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