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Maryland Chowder

A seafood chowder made with cod or haddock, water crackers, butter, oysters or clams, cream, onion, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Maryland Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chowder

  1. In a saucepan or clean iron pot, add the water and sliced onion.

  2. Layer half of the fish skin-side down, then sprinkle with half the salt, black pepper, mace, and cayenne.

  3. Add half of the oysters or clams, followed by half of the butter in small lumps and half of the crackers.

  4. Repeat the layers with the remaining fish, oysters, seasonings, butter, and crackers.

  5. Pour the boiled cream over the top.

  6. Cover and stew for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve on a platter.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Fish + oystertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together496 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the main body of the chowder as it cooks down into tender flakes.
Water crackers
Soften as they absorb liquid, thickening the chowder and giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel as it melts through the layers.
Oysters or clams
Contribute a briny, savory sea flavor to the broth.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the finished chowder.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, oyster, cream, onion, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, oyster, cream, onion, 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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