Why it works: Tomato and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,469 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Add baking soda to the cooked and strained tomatoes.
To prevent curdling, combine the hot tomatoes with the cold milk mixture just before serving.
Reheat the combined mixture gently.
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 + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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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Sauce + milktop 29% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some tomato acidity, reducing sharpness and helping the milk stay smooth.
- Cooked and strained tomatoes
- Provide the main body, flavor and acidity of the soup.
- White sauce no. 1
- Thickens the soup and adds a creamy, rich texture.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mellows the tomato's sharp flavor.
The step that matters
Combining hot tomatoes with cold milk. Tomatoes are acidic, and when hot and acidic liquid meets milk proteins, they can clump and curdle. Using cold or less hot milk and combining just before serving, then reheating gently, keeps the proteins dispersed and the soup smooth.
“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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