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Clam Chowder

A soup made with clams, potatoes, onions, milk, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. In a pot, combine water and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender.

  2. Add onions and clams, and simmer for 10 minutes.

  3. Stir in milk and butter, and heat through.

  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

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

  5. Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Soften as they cook and thicken the broth slightly as their starch releases.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and tender chewy texture when simmered briefly.
Milk
Adds creaminess and a mild sweetness that rounds out the broth.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished broth.
Onions
Contribute savory sweetness and aroma as they soften in the liquid.

The step that matters

Heat the milk through without boiling. Once milk is added, high heat can make it curdle or scorch on the bottom of the pot, leaving the chowder grainy. Keep it gently warm until heated through.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, potato, milk, butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, potato, milk, butter, 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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