Why it works: Beef and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,448 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Bring 2 quarts of beef stock to a boil.
In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water until smooth.
Make the soup
Stir the cornstarch mixture and 1 pint of strained, stewed tomatoes into the boiling stock.
Boil for a few minutes, then serve.
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,667 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef stock
- Forms the savory liquid base that gives the soup its body and main flavor.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells in the hot liquid, giving it a smooth texture.
- Stewed tomatoes
- Supply the tomato flavor, acidity, and much of the soup's color and body.
The step that matters
Stirring the cornstarch mixture into the boiling stock. Cornstarch clumps if it hits hot liquid unevenly. Mixing it smooth in cold water first and stirring while adding it lets the starch disperse and thicken the soup evenly.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Sweet potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar. 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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