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
Boil the can of tomatoes in a soup pot.
After 30 minutes, add 1 pint of water, ensuring it doesn't burn.
Add 1 quart of milk, a lump of butter, salt, and pepper.
Once it boils, stir in 1 tablespoon of baking soda.
Serve with crackers.
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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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 body of the soup.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the tomato's acidity.
- Baking soda
- Neutralises tomato acid, reducing sourness but also risking curdling the milk.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Stir in the baking soda once it boils. Baking soda reacts quickly with the tomato acid and can make the milk curdle or the soup foam. Adding it in small amounts while stirring helps keep the soup 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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