Why it works: Onion and potato 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 stock
Remove the head, skin, and bones from the fish at the market.
Cut the fish into 1‑inch pieces.
Place the head, skin, and bones in a kettle with the cold water.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain the water and return it to the kettle, discarding the head, bones, and skin.
Make the chowder
Cut the salt pork into small pieces and fry with the onion until brown.
Strain the fat into the kettle with the fish water and add the washed, peeled, and chopped potatoes.
When the potatoes are nearly cooked, add the fish without stirring.
Add the hot milk, salt, and pepper.
Serve
Soften the crackers in a soup dish with a little cold milk before pouring in the hot chowder.
Serve immediately.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
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
- Haddock or cod
- Forms the main body of the chowder, providing flaky, tender pieces of fish.
- Salt pork
- Its rendered fat adds richness and savory flavor to the chowder base.
- Potatoes
- Release starch as they cook, thickening the broth and giving body to the chowder.
- Hot milk
- Adds creaminess and a smooth, rich texture to the chowder.
- Chowder crackers
- Soften in the broth, adding body and helping to thicken the chowder.
The step that matters
Add the fish without stirring. Stirring breaks delicate fish flakes into small pieces and can make the chowder cloudy. Adding fish near the end and letting it cook gently keeps the pieces intact.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, pork, potato, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, pork, potato, milk, 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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