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 Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the soup
Heat the milk in one pot.
Cook the tomatoes in another pot until soft.
Add the butter to the cooked tomatoes and cook for 1–2 minutes longer.
Combine and finish
Stir in the baking soda and immediately pour the mixture into the scalding milk.
Taste the soup; if it tastes too acidic, add more baking soda.
Keep the soup at scalding point for about 15 minutes.
Strain the soup before serving and season to taste.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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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 flavour and acidity that the baking soda later neutralises.
- Milk
- Forms the soup base, giving body and a creamy, smooth texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel to the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises tomato acidity, which keeps the milk from curdling when combined.
The step that matters
Pouring the tomato mixture into the scalding milk. Tomato acid can curdle milk. Adding baking soda first and pouring immediately into hot milk keeps the mixture from separating, so the soup stays 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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