Name: Corn Chowder with Red Pepper Cream
Ingredients: 2 large red bell peppers; 2 Tbs. fresh oregano leaves; 2 Tbs. medium-hot pure ground chili such; as pasilla, or 1 Tbs. cayenne pepper; 1 Tbs. olive oil; 1/2 tsp. salt; 2 Tbs. heavy cream; 1 Tbs. chopped salt pork or 2 bacon slices,; chopped; 1/4 cup finely diced celery; 1 small yellow onion, finely diced; 2 cups chicken broth; 4 or 5 red new potatoes, about 3/4 lb. total,; diced; 2 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper; 2 cups milk, heated; Kernels from 6 ears of corn, preferably a; mixture of white and yellow

Why it works: Pork and chicken match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. 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.

Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,417 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Oregano + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together559 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Oregano + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,443 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Pepper + oreganotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,449 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the oregano

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, olive, cream, pork, celery, onion, chicken):

Garlicfits better
Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Oreganothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, olive, cream, pork, celery, onion, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Corn Chowder with Red Pepper Cream