Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,377 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the tomato base
Boil the tomatoes and water until soft.
Mash the mixture through a colander.
Finish the soup
In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the milk until smooth.
Add salt, butter, chopped onions, and chopped celery to the tomato mixture.
Stir in the flour and milk mixture.
Add a pinch of baking soda and serve.
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 + celerytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 and flavour of the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as it combines with the milk.
- Milk
- Makes the soup creamy and adds richness.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some of the tomato acidity, softening the flavour and colour.
The step that matters
Stir in the flour and milk mixture. Flour mixed into hot liquid can clump. Blending it smooth with the milk first and then stirring it in gradually helps the soup thicken evenly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, flour, milk, butter, celery):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, flour, milk, butter, celery. 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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