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Mock Bisque

A tomato-based bisque made with tomato, onion, milk, and cornstarch, finished with optional whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Mock Bisque

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the tomato base

  1. Boil the tomato, onion, and bay leaf for 15 minutes.

  2. Add the baking soda and boil for 5 more minutes.

Thicken and combine

  1. Heat the milk in a separate pot.

  2. Cook the cornstarch until smooth and frothy.

  3. Slowly add the tomato mixture to the cornstarch, stirring well.

  4. Mash through a fine strainer and add to the hot milk.

  5. Do not boil after adding the milk.

Season and serve

  1. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

  2. You may add whipped cream just before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Tomato
Provides the main body and tangy flavor of the bisque.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a smooth, rich texture to the soup.
Cornstarch
Thickens the mixture so it becomes smooth and velvety.
Baking soda
Raises the pH, which softens the tomatoes and mellows their acidity.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Do not boil after adding the milk. Milk mixed with acidic tomato can curdle or separate when boiled, leaving a grainy texture. Keeping it hot but not boiling keeps the bisque smooth.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, onion, pepper, cream):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, onion, pepper, cream. 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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