Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Stew the tomatoes with parsley, salt, and pepper for 15 minutes.
Press the stewed tomatoes through a sieve.
Add the sugar and baking soda to the tomatoes.
Make the white sauce
Boil the milk in a separate pot.
Rub the butter and flour together.
Add the mixture to the boiling milk, stirring constantly until thickened.
Combine and serve
Mix the boiling milk into the tomatoes thoroughly.
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.
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.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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 + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup and carries the flavor.
- Stewed tomatoes
- Provide the main tomato flavor, body, and acidity.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the thickened base.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce as it cooks.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some tomato acidity, mellowing the flavor.
- Sugar
- Balances the tomato acidity with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Mix the boiling milk into the tomatoes. Adding hot milk to acidic tomatoes can cause curdling. Baking soda is added to the tomatoes first, and the milk should be combined thoroughly and served right away to keep the soup smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, tomato, butter, sugar, flour, pepper):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Cardamombetter flavor fit
- Nutmegabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, tomato, butter, sugar, flour, 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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