Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,030 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the base
Place a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the bacon and fry for 6 to 8 minutes, until crisp.
Transfer to paper towels to drain. Drain off and discard half of the fat in the pot.
Return the bacon to the pot over medium heat and add the onions, leek, potatoes, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Saute in the reserved bacon fat for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened and tender.
Simmer and finish
Add the water, stock, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce and stir well. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Add the clams and their juice, stir well, and then add the cream. Stir in the cornstarch and the bechamel sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Just before serving, stir in the sherry. Transfer to warmed soup bowls and serve at once.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,019 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + celerytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together16,001 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,512 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Onion + leektop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,326 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bacon
- Renders fat for sautéing and adds smoky, savoury flavour.
- Red potatoes
- Hold their shape when cooked and thicken the broth slightly as they soften.
- Clams
- Provide the main seafood flavour and texture, with their juice adding brininess.
- Heavy cream
- Adds richness, body and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the broth.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the broth so it becomes creamy and coats the spoon.
- Dry sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth, added at the end to keep its brightness.
The step that matters
Adding the cream and cornstarch, then simmering. Cream can curdle or separate if it boils hard, and cornstarch needs gentle heat to thicken smoothly without lumps. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer once the dairy goes in.
Flavor stand-ins for the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, leek, potato, pepper, garlic, white wine, fish):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
- Celerythe original
- Marjoramabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, leek, potato, pepper, garlic, white wine, fish. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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