Why it works: Tomato and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,606 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the vegetables
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the MARMITE dissolved in hot water and the sliced vegetables.
Stir and fry for a few minutes.
Simmer slowly until the vegetables are tender.
Strain and thicken
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.
Add the milk and seasoning if necessary.
Bring the soup to a boil.
Sprinkle in the crushed tapioca and boil until clear.
Serve
Serve hot with small fried bread croutons.
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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Tomato + carrottop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Crushed tapioca
- Starch that thickens the soup as it boils, turning the liquid clear and smooth.
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and bright, slightly acidic flavour of the soup.
- Butter
- Fat that carries flavour and gives the frying vegetables a rich, savoury base.
- Onion
- Softens and sweetens during frying, adding aromatic depth to the soup.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild richness to the finished soup.
- Marmite
- Adds a concentrated, salty, savoury depth to the broth.
The step that matters
Sprinkle in the crushed tapioca and boil until clear. Tapioca starch only thickens fully when it reaches a boil and swells in the liquid. Stopping early leaves the soup thin and can leave a raw, starchy taste, while the clear appearance signals the starch has cooked through.
Flavor stand-ins for the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, onion, butter, milk):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, onion, butter, milk. 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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