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
Make the soup
Cook the tomatoes thoroughly in the water.
Keep the milk scalding over water to prevent scorching.
Once the tomatoes are done, add the baking soda carefully to avoid overflow.
Add the milk.
Season with butter, salt, and pepper.
For a richer soup, use more milk than water.
Consider substituting cream for butter.
Serve
Serve the soup with crackers and a spoonful of whipped cream in each cup if desired.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the main body and flavor of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes tomato acidity so the milk is less likely to curdle.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and a mild sweetness to the soup.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a richer, smoother mouthfeel and rounder flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda reacts vigorously with acidic tomatoes, producing foam that can overflow the pot. Adding it slowly, in small amounts, keeps the reaction under control and helps prevent the milk from curdling when combined.
“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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