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Maryland Chowder

A chowder made with cod or haddock, water crackers, butter, oysters or clams, cream, onion, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Haddock and cream work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 181 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Maryland Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a soup kettle, add the water and sliced onion.

  2. Layer half of the fish skin side down, then sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper.

  3. Add half of the oysters or clams, followed by small lumps of butter and half of the crackers.

  4. Repeat with the remaining fish, oysters, seasoning, butter, and crackers.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the boiled cream over the top.

  2. If the oysters have a lot of liquor, you may not need the water; if too dry, add more water.

  3. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

  4. Serve on a platter with a fork, not as a soup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Haddock + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together181 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Cod or haddock
Forms the main body of the chowder, flaking into tender pieces as it cooks.
Water crackers
Soak up cooking liquid and thicken the chowder as they soften.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the fish and crackers.
Oysters or clams
Contribute briny, savory flavor and their own liquor to the dish.
Cream
Adds richness and body to the liquid, softening the overall texture.

The step that matters

Adding water depending on the liquor. Oysters and clams release varying amounts of liquid. Too much liquid makes the dish soupy, while too little can leave the crackers dry and the fish under-moistened. Checking the dish before cooking lets the cook balance the moisture.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, butter, oyster, cream, onion, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, butter, oyster, cream, onion, pepper. 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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