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Clam Chowder

A soup made with clams, potatoes, onions, pork, milk, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Ronald · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 25 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and thyme 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 ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the clams

  1. Put the clams, with their own liquor, into a saucepan on the fire.

  2. Boil the clams for three minutes, then remove them and return the liquor to the fire.

Make the chowder

  1. Cut the salt pork into slices.

  2. Chop the onion and fry it with the pork until both are browned.

  3. Stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour.

  4. When the flour is cooked, add the clam liquor slowly, a dash of mace, thyme, and salt if necessary.

  5. Add the diced parboiled potatoes and cook until the potatoes are tender.

  6. Add a pint of milk or cream, the clams cut into pieces, and a quarter pound of broken ship crackers.

  7. Serve the chowder hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1136Calories
58 gProtein
31 gFat
157 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Butter + clamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Cooked with the fat to form a roux that thickens the chowder.
Potatoes
Hold their shape in the diced pieces and add body and starch to the chowder.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a soft, rich body to the chowder.
Ship crackers
Break down into the broth and help thicken the chowder.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and savory character of the chowder.

The step that matters

Adding the clam liquor to the flour. Add the liquor slowly after the flour is cooked so it blends smoothly without lumps. Adding it all at once or before the flour cooks can leave a raw, pasty taste and clumps that do not dissolve.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, flour, milk, thyme, cheese, clam):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, flour, milk, thyme, cheese, clam. 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.

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