Why it works: Milk and butter 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 Soups
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Pare the tomatoes.
Slice the tomatoes.
Cook and serve
Drop the tomatoes in 1 pint of boiling water.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Add baking soda, sweet milk, rolled crackers, butter, pepper, and salt.
Serve hot with additional crackers.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Milk + buttertop 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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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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, moisture and bright acidic flavour of the soup.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base and softens the tomato's sharp acidity.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises tomato acid, which reduces curdling of the milk and mellows the tartness.
- Rolled crackers
- Absorb liquid and swell, giving the soup body and a thicker texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavour and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda with the milk. Tomatoes are acidic, and hot acidic liquid mixed with milk can curdle. Baking soda neutralises much of that acid, so the milk stays smooth. Add it along with the milk to the hot tomato mixture.
“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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