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 stock
Boil the stock and tomatoes together for 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a sieve.
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Stir in the flour.
Add the strained stock.
Boil for 2 minutes.
Allow the boil to subside.
Add the cream.
Do not let it boil again to prevent curdling.
If using fresh tomatoes, peel them.
Boil for 1 hour with a pinch of salt, then strain.
Return to the fire.
Add 1 quart of hot boiled milk.
Finish and serve
Season with salt, pepper, and a small piece of butter.
Add the rolled crackers.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Butter and flour 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 flavour, along with sweetness and acidity, as the base of the soup.
- Stock
- Supplies the liquid base and savoury flavour for the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and giving a smooth mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells when cooked in melted butter.
- Milk or cream
- Adds creaminess, softness and richness that mellows the tomato acidity.
- Rolled crackers
- Add body and thickness as their starch absorbs liquid and softens.
The step that matters
Do not let the soup boil after adding the milk or cream. Boiling dairy can cause its proteins to separate and curdle, leaving the soup grainy. Keeping it below a boil keeps it 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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