Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fish Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish and potatoes
Cook the fish first.
In a pot, boil the sliced potatoes in 1 quart of water for 10 minutes.
Fry the pork and onions
Cut the salt pork into bits and cook until browned.
Add the finely sliced onions to the pork and fry slowly.
Spread the cooked pork and onions over the fish, then cover until ready.
Make the milk base and finish
Stir the flour into the remaining fat in the pan and cook until browned.
Add the milk and bring to a boil.
Add 1 quart of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.
Pour the milk mixture from the pan, add the split crackers, and bring to a boil.
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.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the chowder when cooked in fat, giving the liquid body and a toasted flavor.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and richness to the broth, softening its flavor.
- Potatoes
- Their starch thickens the liquid slightly and gives the chowder substance.
- Salt pork
- Its rendered fat carries flavor through the chowder and browns for savoriness.
- Onions
- Frying them slowly turns their sugars sweet and mellow, building flavor.
- Crackers
- Absorb liquid and help thicken the chowder as they soften.
The step that matters
Cooking the flour in the pork fat. Flour must be stirred into the fat and cooked until browned before liquid is added. This coats the starch granules so they disperse without lumps, and toasting removes raw flour taste.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, potato, pork, milk, flour, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, potato, pork, milk, flour, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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