Name: E Scalloped Clams
Ingredients: 1 can of clams; 2 tablespoons butter (for the baking dish); 2 tablespoons butter (for the white sauce); 2 tablespoons flour; 1 cup milk; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; buttered breadcrumbs (for topping)

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

E Scalloped Clams

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Butter a baking dish and add the can of clams without mincing.

Make the white sauce

In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then stir in 2 tablespoons of flour.
Gradually add 1 cup of milk, stirring until thickened.
Season the sauce with ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper.

Assemble and bake

Pour the white sauce over the clams.
Cover with buttered breadcrumbs.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together840 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and flour 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 seafood flavor and the bulk of the dish.
Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the sauce and helps brown the breadcrumb topping.
Flour: Thickens the milk into a smooth white sauce that binds the dish.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the white sauce, giving it a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Gradually add the milk to the flour and butter. Adding milk slowly while stirring keeps the flour dispersed so the sauce thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.

“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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E Scalloped Clams