Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,787 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Pour the canned tomatoes into a pot.
Add 1 cup of water and stew until soft enough to mash through a strainer.
Before removing from heat, stir in 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda.
Make the soup
Prepare the cream sauce and add 1 pint of milk to it.
Combine the cream sauce with the strained tomatoes and stir until well blended.
Serve with cracker dust on top.
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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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + milktop 29% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Canned tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity and flavour of the soup.
- Cream sauce
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy body to the soup.
- Milk
- Thins the cream sauce and adds dairy richness and mild sweetness.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some tomato acidity, which can curdle the cream if left unbalanced.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda before removing from heat. Baking soda neutralises tomato acid, which otherwise can cause the milk or cream to curdle when combined. Using a scant measure keeps the soup from tasting soapy or salty while still balancing the acid.
“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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