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
Prepare the clams
Wash the clams until clean and place them in a kettle with 1 quart of cold water.
Cook until the top clams open, then remove from heat and skim out the clams.
Pour the liquid into a dish to settle.
Once cool, cut off the heads of the clams with scissors.
Make the chowder
In the same kettle, fry the onion in the salt pork until brown, then remove the onion and pork.
Add the sliced potatoes and the clam liquor, pouring carefully to avoid disturbing the sediment.
When the potatoes are soft, add the clams, seasonings, and hot milk, adding more water if desired.
Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and add to the chowder or to the hot milk before mixing in.
Serve
Place crackers in a tureen and pour the chowder over them.
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.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Provide the main flavour and texture, and release their briny liquor into the broth.
- Potatoes
- Soften during cooking to thicken the chowder and add body.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat that carries flavour and browns the onion for savoury depth.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour through the chowder.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and chowder into a creamier, smoother texture.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the chowder and adds sweetness and body.
The step that matters
Adding the flour-butter mixture. Flour thickens only when it is cooked and well dispersed. Stirring it into hot liquid without first blending it with butter can leave lumps and a floury taste.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, potato, pork, pepper, butter, flour, milk):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, potato, pork, pepper, butter, flour, milk. 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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