Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,451 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the onion in butter until soft.
Combine the tomatoes, boiling water, cloves, salt, pepper, sugar, and cornstarch in a pot.
Add the fried onion to the mixture.
Cook the mixture, then strain it 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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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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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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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid so the soup has a smoother, fuller body.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness while softening the onion.
- Onion
- Adds savory sweetness and aroma when softened in butter.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the tomatoes with sweetness.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture, then strain it before serving. Cornstarch needs to be heated fully to thicken the liquid properly, and straining removes cloves and solids so the soup is smooth. Cook until the soup is thickened and no raw starch taste remains.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, clove, pepper, sugar, butter):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Eggplantbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, clove, pepper, sugar, butter. 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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