Why it works: Tomato and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,034 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Macaroni Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Add the broken macaroni to the boiling water and boil for 1 hour.
Stir in the strained stewed tomato.
Just before serving, pour in the cream.
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 + creamtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,034 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Provides starch that thickens the broth and gives the soup its body.
- Strained stewed tomato
- Supplies acidity and tomato flavour as the base of the soup.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening the tomato's acidity for a smoother taste.
The step that matters
Adding the cream just before serving. Cream held at a long boil can curdle or separate, especially when mixed with acidic tomato. Adding it at the end keeps it smooth and rich.
“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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