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 ↓
Tomato Soup Without Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Heat the stewed tomatoes and boiling water thoroughly.
Pass the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer until smooth.
Finish and serve
Stir in the baking soda and sweet milk.
Season with salt, pepper, and butter.
Stir well and 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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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 + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stewed tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity and tomato flavor of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some of the tomato acidity, which helps keep the milk from curdling.
- Sweet milk
- Adds creaminess and a rounder, milder body to the acidic tomato base.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
- Boiling water
- Thins the tomatoes to a soup consistency.
The step that matters
Stirring in the baking soda and sweet milk. Tomatoes are acidic, and acid can make milk curdle when the two are combined. Baking soda neutralizes some of that acidity, so the milk is more likely to stay smooth. Serving right away also helps keep the soup from separating.
“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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