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Salt-codfish Chowder

A creamy chowder made with salt codfish, potatoes, milk, crackers, and pork fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Salt-codfish Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the codfish into small pieces and soak it in lukewarm water until soft and the salt is removed.

Cook

  1. Cut the pork into small pieces and cook until golden brown, adding the onions during the last part of cooking.

  2. Add the potatoes to the pork and onions, cover with water, and boil until tender.

  3. Stir in the milk and codfish, then reheat.

  4. Add the crackers just before serving.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + porktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

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

  4. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

  5. Milk + porktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt codfish
Provides the main flavor and body; soaking removes excess salt so it seasons without overpowering.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a smooth, rich body to the chowder.
Potatoes
Add starch and bulk, thickening the broth and giving the chowder substance.
Soda crackers
Added at the end to thicken the chowder slightly and add a little body.
Salt pork
Renders fat and flavor into the pot, giving the chowder a savory base.

The step that matters

Soaking the codfish. Salt cod is heavily cured, so soaking in lukewarm water draws out salt and softens the flesh. Skipping or shortening the soak leaves the chowder too salty and the fish tough.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, milk, pork. 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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