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
Prepare the tomatoes
Bring the can of tomatoes to a boil and strain through a coarse strainer.
Add the baking soda and wait for the foaming to cease.
Finish the soup
Stir in the milk and butter.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Thicken slightly with cracker crumbs and boil for a few moments 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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Tomato + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + peppertop 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 acidic tomato flavor of the soup.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some of the tomato's acidity, softening its sharpness and making it milder.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and dilutes the tomato, giving the soup a smooth, mellow texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb liquid and swell, thickening the soup through their starch.
The step that matters
Add the baking soda and wait for the foaming to cease. Baking soda reacts with the tomato's acid and releases carbon dioxide, causing vigorous foaming that can boil over. Letting it settle before adding milk prevents overflow and keeps the soup from curdling or splitting.
“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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