Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Stew the tomatoes with the baking soda for about 30 minutes.
Rub the mixture through a sieve and return it to the saucepan.
Heat the clear soup and cream, then stir them into the tomatoes.
Rub the flour and butter together and add to the soup.
Boil for 10 minutes and season.
Serve
Serve in a heated tureen with diced fried toast.
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 + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Form the main body and flavour of the soup.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as it cooks with the butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps bind the flour into the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises some of the tomatoes' acidity, mellowing the flavour.
The step that matters
Adding the flour and butter. Flour mixed into fat and added directly to hot liquid can clump; rubbing them together first helps it disperse and thicken the soup smoothly. Keep the soup simmering while stirring so the starch can swell evenly.
“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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