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A Fish and Potato Chowder

A creamy chowder made with fish, potatoes, onions, milk, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

A Fish and Potato Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the fish into bite-sized pieces.

  2. Peel and dice the potatoes and onions.

Make the chowder

  1. In a pot, melt butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the onions and cook until translucent.

  3. Stir in the potatoes and cover with water; simmer until tender.

  4. Add the fish and milk; cook until the fish is cooked through.

  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

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

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

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

Fish
Provides the main protein and flakes into the chowder as it cooks.
Potatoes
Soften during simmering and thicken the broth through their starch.
Onions
Soften and build a sweet, savory base flavor in the butter.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a rich, mild body to the chowder.
Butter
Adds fat for flavor and helps soften the onions without browning.

The step that matters

Add the fish and milk; cook until the fish is cooked through.. Fish overcooks quickly and turns dry and tough, so it should be added near the end and cooked only until it flakes. Milk held at a gentle simmer helps avoid curdling or scorching.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, potato, milk, butter, 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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