Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fish Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and layer
In a kettle, fry the salt pork slowly until all the fat is rendered, then remove the pork scraps.
Layer one-third of the fish in the kettle, followed by a layer of potatoes, chopped onions, salt, pepper, and a light dusting of flour. Repeat the layering until all ingredients are used.
Cook and serve
Cover with cold water and boil for 15 minutes.
Add the soaked Boston crackers and sweet milk, then boil for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
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.
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.
-
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the chowder, cooking into tender flakes in the broth.
- Potatoes
- Release starch as they cook, thickening the broth and adding body.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat that carries flavour through the kettle and seasons the chowder.
- Boston crackers
- Soak up liquid and help thicken the chowder as they break down.
- Sweet milk
- Adds richness and creaminess to the broth.
The step that matters
Layering before adding water. Layering the fish, potatoes, onions and flour in order lets flavours build as the kettle cooks. The flour dusting helps lightly thicken the broth, so the layers should stay evenly distributed rather than clumping in one spot.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pork, potato, pepper, flour, milk):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pork, potato, pepper, flour, milk. 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.
More fish chowder recipes
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Fried Fish120 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipes
Roast Pork82 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.