Name: Fish Chowder
Ingredients: fish; potatoes; onions; milk; butter; salt; pepper

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 ↓

Fish Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

In a large pot, combine fish, diced potatoes, and chopped onions.
Add enough water to cover the ingredients and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
Stir in milk and butter, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes, then serve hot.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

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

Potatoes: Starch that softens during simmering, thickening the broth and giving the chowder body.
Milk: Adds creaminess and richness to the broth as it is stirred in at the end.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the finished chowder.
Onions: Release sweetness and savory aroma as they cook in the broth.
Fish: Provides the main protein and flavor, flaking gently into the broth as it cooks.

Swap the onion

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

Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits about as well
Asparagusfits about as well
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.