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
Make the soup
Boil the tomatoes and add baking soda.
Strain the mixture and return it to the heat.
Add hot boiled milk thickened with cornstarch, pouring back and forth several times.
Season with salt, pepper, and butter.
Finish and serve
Stir in rolled crackers and serve hot.
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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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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and tangy flavor of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes tomato acidity, keeping the milk from curdling and softening the flavor.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk so the soup becomes smooth and body-rich.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
- Rolled crackers
- Soak up liquid and add light body and texture to the soup.
The step that matters
Adding the milk to the tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic, and when hot milk meets them the proteins can curdle. Baking soda neutralizes the acid first, and pouring the milk in gradually 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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