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Hamilton Clam Chowder

A creamy clam chowder made with clams, 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 ↓

Hamilton Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the clams and set aside.

  2. Peel and dice the potatoes and onions.

Make the chowder

  1. In a pot, melt butter and sauté the onions until translucent.

  2. Add the potatoes and enough water to cover them; cook until tender.

  3. Stir in the clams and milk; heat through.

  4. 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. Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

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 tender, chewy texture in the chowder.
Potatoes
Add body and starch that thickens the broth and gives it a hearty texture.
Onions
Build a sweet, savory aromatic base as they soften in butter.
Milk
Adds creaminess and richness, giving the chowder its smooth body.
Butter
Carries the onion flavor and adds richness to the base.

The step that matters

Stir in the clams and milk; heat through. Clams turn rubbery when overcooked, and milk can curdle or scorch at a hard boil. Heating gently just until the clams are cooked and the milk is warm keeps both tender and smooth.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, 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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