JoP in Omaha

No, that's not how it went. The tomato flavor came first, not after I added other ingredients. Because of the strong tomato flavor at the end, I added more ingredients. The initial ingredients were roasted red bell peppers, one half onion, stock, salt. pepper. It was at this point I tasted it, and it was a very strong tomato flavor, not red pepper flavor. So I added cayenne....then cream.

Thanks....I appreciate your ideas. The amount of cream I used has come up a couple of times, so I want to explain. The initial amounts of main ingredients I used were 9 red bell peppers, 3 cups of chicken stock and one cup of cream. Then I tasted it....it was very tomato-y. That's when I started adding more cream to try to mellow the sharp tomato taste. More cream didn't help much. I just checked out both McGee and Cookwise to see if they had a discussion of why peppers can end up tasting like tomato, but this wasn't addressed in either volume.

I understand where you're coming from with your question. No, it's not the first time I've tasted such soup. I'm trying to duplicate a roated red pepper soup that was served at a grill/bar here. It was made from scratch, that I know. That soup did not call forth essence of tomato, as my verison does even though no tomato products were added (no tomato, no tomato paste...)

Thanks for your advice, Jaz. Pondering this the past couple of days, it seems like the problem has to be in how I roasted the peppers. I'll try your suggestions, and I hope I get closer to the target I'm aiming for (duplication of the soup at a local grill). Thanks!

LOL. Yes, I'm very sure. There are no tomatoes anywhere near that soup!

I broiled them in the oven until the skin turned black. They were 6" or so below the heat source. I broiled them about 10 minutes on each of 4 sides. (longer for the first 2 sides, a little less for the last 2 sides.) Probably about 40-45 minutes total.

I made cream of red pepper soup. Briefly, I roasted 9 fresh red peppers, peeled them, removed seeds, and chopped them. I sauteed chopped onions, added some flour to make a roux, and added the peppers, 3 cups chicken stock, salt, pepper. I cooked this 15-20 minutes, then pureed it and finished with cream. It tastes like tomato soup. I added some cayenne to add a little kick. That helped a little, but when I gave it to a friend to taste, he asked if it was tomato soup. There are no tomatoes or tomato-based products in the soup. My questions are -- why does it taste like tomato soup? -- next time, what can I do to ensure it will taste like roasted red pepper soup? Thanks, JoP in Omaha