Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel and slice the onion, and cut the tomatoes into small slices.
Make the soup
In a pot, melt the butter and fry the onion until light brown.
Add the tomatoes and fry them briefly.
Pour in the water and add the bunch of herbs.
Cook until the vegetables are tender, then strain through a fine sieve.
Return the soup to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
Gradually add the tapioca or semolina and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve
Serve with small croutons of fried bread.
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.
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Onion + semolinatop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together99 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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, flavour and acidity of the soup.
- Onion
- Frying until light brown builds sweetness and savoury depth in the base.
- Butter
- Carries the frying of the onion and adds richness to the soup.
- Tapioca or semolina
- Thickens the soup as it cooks, giving it body.
The step that matters
Gradually add the tapioca or semolina. Adding it slowly while the soup is hot helps prevent lumps, because starch grains disperse before they swell and thicken. Then cooking it lets the starch fully gelatinise, which gives the soup its body and removes any raw starch taste.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, semolina, butter):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Spinachbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, semolina, butter. 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.
More tomato soup recipes
You might also like
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Tomato Fritters23 recipes
Tomato Puree23 recipes
Macaroni with Tomato Sauce16 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.