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 ↓
Cream Oe Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the tomato base
Drain the liquid from the can of tomatoes.
Cook the tomato pulp with the onion until soft, then press through a sieve.
Cook the strained tomatoes again until thick like ketchup.
Make the milk mixture
Heat the milk in a pot.
Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold milk and add it to the heated milk along with the butter.
Combine and serve
Stir the baking soda into the hot tomatoes and let it foam.
Once the foaming stops, add the milk mixture and bring to a boil.
Serve immediately.
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 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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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 flavour of the soup.
- Milk
- Gives the soup its creamy body and mild, rich flavour.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture so the soup becomes smooth and creamy.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some of the tomato acidity, softening the flavour and reducing sharpness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda to the hot tomatoes. Baking soda reacts with acid and releases carbon dioxide, causing vigorous foaming. Adding it too fast can overflow the pot, and it must be fully reacted before the milk is added, otherwise the milk can curdle in the acidic tomato base.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, milk, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, milk, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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