Clam Soup, Excellent

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

2. Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together840 recipes

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

3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Clam + milktop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together636 recipes

   Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Clams

Provide the main flavor and body of the soup through their cooking liquor.

Flour

Thickens the milk mixture so the soup becomes creamy rather than watery.

Milk

Forms the creamy base of the soup and adds richness and softness.

Butter

Adds fat and richness, and helps smooth the flour into the milk.

The step that matters