Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Combine water and optional piece of meat in a pot.
Boil for flavor.
Add tomatoes.
Cook for 30 to 60 minutes.
Thicken and finish
Mix butter and flour in a bowl until smooth.
Stir the butter-flour mixture and milk into the soup.
Strain the soup through a sieve before serving.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + meattop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body, flavor and acidity of the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavor, helping the flour blend smoothly.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup, giving it a smoother, more body-filled texture.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and softens the tomato's sharp acidity.
The step that matters
Stirring the butter-flour mixture into the soup. Flour clumps if added raw or unevenly. Mixing it smooth with butter first and then stirring it into hot soup helps it disperse and thicken evenly.
“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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