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Clam Chowder

A soup made with clams, tomatoes, onions, butter, crackers, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Build the pot

  1. Layer clams in the bottom of a soup pot.

  2. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes and onions.

  3. Sprinkle with seasoning.

  4. Add bits of butter.

  5. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.

  6. Pour in at least 3 pints of clam liquor.

  7. Cover the pot.

Cook the chowder

  1. Heat slowly for 30 minutes.

  2. Boil briskly for 20 minutes.

Prepare the crackers and serve

  1. Soak the split crackers in the hot milk until soft.

  2. Butter the crackers thickly.

  3. Keep the crackers warm over boiling water until the chowder is ready.

  4. Line a hot tureen with the crackers.

  5. Pour the chowder into the tureen.

  6. Serve with sliced lemon.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together214 recipes

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

  3. Summer savory + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together125 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and body of the chowder.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and moisture that blends into the broth as it simmers.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries the seasoning through the chowder.
Crackers
Soak up the milk and liquid to thicken the base and give a soft, bready texture.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the crackers for a richer finish.

The step that matters

Boil briskly for 20 minutes. Clams turn tough and rubbery when overcooked, so the heat must be controlled. A brisk boil after the slow heating helps the liquor and tomatoes meld, but the timing still needs watching to keep the clams tender.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, lemon, butter, parsley, thyme, summer savory, marjoram):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, lemon, butter, parsley, thyme, summer savory, marjoram. 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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