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
In a large pot, bring the sweet milk and water to a boil.
Dissolve the baking soda in the canned tomatoes and add to the boiling mixture.
Thicken the soup with pulverized cracker as desired.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in butter before serving.
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 + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + tomatotop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Pepper + buttertop 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
- Sweet milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup and gives it body and richness.
- Canned tomatoes
- Provide the main tomato flavor and the soup's acidity.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some of the tomatoes' acid, which lowers the risk of the milk curdling.
- Pulverized cracker
- Absorbs liquid and thickens the soup as it sits and heats.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and richer flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the tomato mixture to the boiling milk. Tomatoes are acidic, and acid can make milk curdle. Dissolving the baking soda in the tomatoes first neutralizes some of that acid, so the soup stays smooth when the two meet.
“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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