Home › Cream Soups › Tomato Cream Soup--No. 1
Tomato Cream Soup--No. 1
Cut up a dozen ripe tomatoes; place in a saucepan and stew until tender. Rub through a strainer. Thicken with 3 teaspoonfuls of corn starch, rubbed to a paste with a teaspoonful of butter. Pour a quart of scalding milk in slowly, in which a pinch of soda has been dissolved. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar.
A straightforward cream of tomato in the old style, where a pinch of baking soda is used to keep the milk from curdling in the acid puree. The order of combining matters more than anything else here.
- Add the tomato to the milk, not the reverseThe safest method is to pour the thickened tomato slowly into the hot milk while whisking, rather than dumping hot milk into a pan of acid puree. Either way, keep the pan below a simmer once the two are together or the milk will break into curds.
- The sodaA "pinch" means about 1/8 teaspoon for a quart of milk. More than that flattens the tomato flavour and can leave a soapy taste and a brownish tint. If your tomatoes are ripe and sweet you may not need it at all.
- Corn starchThree teaspoonfuls is a tablespoon. Rubbing it to a paste with butter rather than cold water works, but stir the paste into the hot puree off the heat, then return to a low boil for a minute or two so the starch loses its raw flavour.
- A dozen tomatoesPerhaps 3 to 4 lb, giving in the region of 4 cups of puree once strained. A 28 oz can of whole tomatoes plus a little of their juice is a rough substitute out of season, though the quantity will not match exactly.
- StrainingRubbing through a sieve removes skins and seeds and is worth the effort; a blender leaves the seeds broken up in the soup and can make it bitter. Press the pulp firmly and discard only the skins and pips.
- SeasoningThe sugar is there to correct the acidity of underripe or canned fruit. Add it at the end, a half teaspoon at a time, tasting as you go.
- YieldAbout 2 quarts, serving six as a first course.