Skip to main content
Main

Clam Chowder

A hearty soup made with clams, onions, bacon, tomatoes, potatoes, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the clams in cold water.

  2. Drain the clams.

  3. Chop the clams.

  4. Cut the bacon into small dice.

  5. Cut the potatoes into small dice.

Make the chowder

  1. Combine the clams, onions, bacon, tomatoes, potatoes, and water in a large kettle.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Cook for 10 minutes.

  4. Add the remaining ingredients.

  5. Stir thoroughly.

Can and process

  1. Place the mixture in cans.

  2. Cap the cans.

  3. Process for 80 minutes at 250°F (120°C).

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and the chewy body of the chowder.
Potatoes
Release starch as they cook, thickening the broth and adding body.
Bacon
Renders fat that carries flavor and adds savory, smoky depth.
Onions
Add sweetness and aromatic flavor as they soften during cooking.
Tomatoes
Contribute acidity, color and a fresh tang that balances the rich fat.

The step that matters

Process for 80 minutes at 250°F (120°C). Sealed cans must be held at the full time and temperature so heat reaches every part of the contents and destroys spoilage microorganisms. Shorter or cooler processing can leave the chowder unsafe to store.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, onion, tomato, potato, parsley, thyme, marjoram):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, onion, tomato, potato, parsley, thyme, marjoram. 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.

More clam chowder recipes

Baked 5New England 5Coney Island 3Manhattan 3 See all 243 →

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesPotato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesPotato RollsPotato Rolls78 recipes