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 tomato base
Combine the tomatoes and water in a saucepan.
Boil for 30 minutes.
Add baking soda and let it boil up.
Press the mixture through a colander.
Finish the soup
Return the mixture to the saucepan and add butter.
Stir in the milk, salt, and pepper.
Mix the flour with cold water and add it last.
Bring the soup to a boil.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 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).
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, flavour and acidity of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some of the tomato acidity, mellowing the soup and making it smoother.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and softens the tomato flavour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silkier mouthfeel to the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup slightly as it heats, giving it body.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda reacts with tomato acid and foams up strongly, so it can boil over. Add it slowly and watch the pan. Adding milk to acidic tomatoes before the soup is hot can also cause curdling, so keep the heat controlled.
“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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