Why it works: Tomato and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine tomatoes, soup bone, onion, cucumber, grated corn, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Boil the mixture for four hours.
Dissolve corn starch in a little cold water and add it to the pot.
Strain the soup 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 + cucumbertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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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Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 flavor of the soup.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the soup as it heats, giving it a smoother body.
- Soup bone
- Adds savory depth and body to the broth during long simmering.
The step that matters
Dissolve corn starch in cold water before adding it. Starch added dry or straight into hot liquid clumps instead of dispersing. Mixing it into cold water first lets the granules spread evenly, so the soup thickens smoothly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, corn, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cucumber, corn, 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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