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Tomato Soup

A soup made with canned tomatoes, water, celery, baking soda, oyster liquid, boiling milk, cream, salt, butter, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Tomato Soup

Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup base

  1. Combine canned tomatoes, water, and celery.

  2. Boil until soft.

  3. Return to the stove and add baking soda. Allow to effervesce.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir in the liquid from the oysters, boiling milk, and cream.

  2. Season with salt, butter, and pepper to taste. Boil for a few moments.

  3. Serve.

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.

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.

  1. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 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

Canned tomatoes
Provide the main body, acidity, and flavour of the soup.
Baking soda
Neutralises tomato acidity, which reduces curdling when the milk is added.
Oyster liquid
Adds a briny, savoury flavour to the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, giving the soup a smooth body.
Cream
Adds richness and a silky texture through its fat content.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda. Baking soda reacts with the tomato acid and releases carbon dioxide, so it foams strongly. Add it slowly to the hot tomato mixture and let it settle, because too much at once can overflow and leave a soapy, bitter taste.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, oyster, milk, cream, butter, 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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