Name: Lobster and Corn Chowder
Ingredients: 2 live lobsters, each 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb.; 1 Tbs. canola oil; 5 cups low-sodium chicken stock; 1/2 cup white wine; 3 ears of corn, kernels removed, kernels; and corncobs reserved; 3 bacon slices, diced; 1 yellow onion, chopped; 2 large carrots, diced; 3 celery stalks, diced; 2 cups heavy cream; 2 Yukon Gold or other potatoes, cut; into 1/2-inch pieces; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme; 2 tsp. chopped fresh chives

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Corn + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together794 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, canola oil, chicken, white wine, corn, onion, carrot):

Garlicfits better
Thymefits about as well
Celerythe original
Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, canola oil, chicken, white wine, corn, onion, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lobster	100g cooked	98
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Lobster and Corn Chowder