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Tomato Souffle

A baked tomato and celery souffle topped with browned breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the base

  1. Slice the raw tomatoes and boiled celery, and place them in a souffle dish.

  2. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring until thickened.

Make the souffle mixture

  1. Remove from heat and mix in the egg yolks, cheese, pepper, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the mixture.

  2. Pour the souffle mixture over the tomatoes and celery in the dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Sprinkle with browned bread crumbs and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  2. Serve as a second course or luncheon dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks give the souffle its light, risen structure, while yolks enrich it.
Butter and flour
Cooked together they form a roux that thickens the milk into a stable, smooth base.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the roux thickens into the sauce holding the souffle together.
Cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness to the base.
Tomatoes
Provide moisture and a fresh, acidic flavour under the souffle mixture.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only while whipped to stiff peaks. Folding gently preserves that trapped air, so the souffle rises instead of deflating.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, flour, cheese, egg, pepper, milk):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, flour, cheese, egg, pepper, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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