Name: Summer Corn and Cod Chowder
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 slices center-cut bacon, halved crosswise; 8 scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens separated; 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch dice; 2 cups 2 percent milk; 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth; 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme; 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 3/4 pound cod, skin removed, chopped; 2 1/2 cups cups fresh or frozen corn kernels; 1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half

Why it works: Thyme and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,517 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,608 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Potato + thymetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,586 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together938 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, potato, milk, chicken, thyme, pepper, corn):

Marjoramfits better
Rosemaryfits better
Parsleyfits about as well
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, potato, milk, chicken, thyme, pepper, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Summer Corn and Cod Chowder