Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cream Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes by peeling and chopping them.
In a pot, cook the tomatoes until soft.
Add cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
Blend until smooth and heat through before serving.
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.
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Tomato + creamtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,034 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they 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
- Tomatoes
- Form the base of the soup, providing most of its body, acidity and flavour.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the soup a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Blend until smooth and heat through before serving. Blending breaks down cell walls in the cooked tomatoes so the soup becomes smooth. Reheating gently after adding cream keeps it warm without letting it boil or separate.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, pepper):
- Spinachfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, pepper. 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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