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Clam Chowder

Clam chowder made with clams, tomatoes, onions, crackers, butter, milk, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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

Make the chowder

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

  2. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes and onion.

  3. Sprinkle with seasonings and drop bits of butter on top.

  4. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.

  5. Pour in clam liquor (at least 3 pints) and cover.

  6. Heat slowly for 30 minutes, then boil briskly for 20 minutes.

Prepare the crackers

  1. Soak split crackers in the hot milk until soft, then butter them thickly.

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

Serve

  1. Line a hot tureen with the crackers and pour in the chowder.

  2. Serve with sliced lemon on the side.

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 blend into the broth as it simmers.
Crackers
Soak up the hot milk and thicken the chowder while softening into the broth.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries the seasonings' aroma.
Onion
Contributes sweetness and savory aroma as it cooks into the broth.

The step that matters

Heat slowly, then boil briskly. Heating slowly lets the clams release their liquor gently, so they stay tender rather than toughening. The brisk boil afterward finishes the broth and softens the tomatoes and onion, so the flavors meld.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Sagefits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, onion, tomato, 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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