Name: Corn Chowder
Ingredients: 1 quart potatoes, diced; 1 quart corn, cut from the cob; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste; Butter, in small pieces; Onion, chopped; Milk, enough to cover

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 ↓

Corn Chowder

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Assemble

Layer the diced potatoes and corn in a baking dish, alternating with salt, pepper, butter, and onion.
Pour milk over the layers until covered.

Bake

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until heated through.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together938 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes: Provide starch and body, becoming tender and thickening the chowder as they cook.
Corn: Adds sweetness and tender texture to the layers.
Milk: Supplies the liquid that cooks the vegetables and forms the creamy base.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the layers.
Onion: Contributes savory aroma and depth as it softens during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, corn, pepper, butter, milk):

Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits better
Asparagusfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, corn, pepper, butter, milk. 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.