Why it works: Tomato and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,099 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
In a large pot, boil the beef bone in water for a short time.
Add the corn cobs and kernels, along with the chopped tomatoes.
Boil for about 30 minutes.
Remove the corn cobs from the pot.
Finish and serve
Just before serving, stir in milk and allow to boil for a few moments.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Provides sweetness and body as the kernels release starch and flavor into the broth.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity and a fresh, savory tang that balances the sweet corn.
- Beef bone
- Releases savory flavor and richness into the water as it simmers.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and a mellow dairy richness to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Adding the milk. Milk can curdle or scorch if it is boiled hard for too long, so it should go in just before serving and only simmer briefly.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, corn, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Carrotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, corn, milk, 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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