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Maryland Chowder

A fish chowder made with cod or haddock, oysters or clams, water crackers, butter, cream, 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

Prepare

  1. Clean the fish and cut it into uniform pieces.

  2. In a saucepan, combine water and sliced onion.

Layer and stew

  1. Layer half of the fish skin side down, sprinkle with half the salt, pepper, mace, and cayenne.

  2. Add half of the oysters or clams, half the butter in small lumps, and half the crackers.

  3. Repeat with the remaining fish, oysters, seasoning, butter, and crackers.

  4. Pour the boiled cream over the top.

  5. 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, providing flesh that becomes flaky and tender as it stews.
Water crackers
Soften in the liquid and thicken the chowder, giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the layered mixture.
Oysters or clams
Contribute briny, savory flavor that seasons the chowder from within.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, mellow body to the broth.

The step that matters

Cover and stew for 30 minutes. Stewing gently rather than boiling keeps the fish tender and prevents it from breaking apart, while letting the flavors blend and the crackers soften into the broth.

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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