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Scalloped Clams

A baked clam dish with clam juice, cream, egg yolks, mustard, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

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 the clams

  1. Wash the clams thoroughly and place them in a dripping pan in a hot oven.

  2. When the shells open, remove them and save the liquor.

  3. Take the clams out of the shells and chop them finely.

Make the filling

  1. In a bowl, mix the clam juice, cream, egg yolks, mustard, and black pepper.

  2. Combine this mixture with the chopped clams.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter a scallop shell or deep dish and scatter bread crumbs on the bottom.

  2. Pour the clam mixture into the dish and cover with more bread crumbs, at least ½ inch thick.

  3. Dot the top with butter and sprinkle with pepper and salt.

  4. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for nearly 45 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.

  1. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main body and flavour of the filling.
Egg yolks
Bind the filling and help it set as it bakes.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture to the custard-like filling.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, browned topping and absorb moisture from the filling.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and promotes browning on the top.

The step that matters

Pour the clam mixture into the dish and cover with bread crumbs. Egg yolks set as they heat, so the filling must be fully baked through to firm up. A proper crumb layer insulates the custard and protects it from drying out, while the top browns.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, cream, egg, pepper, bread, butter):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, cream, egg, pepper, bread, butter. 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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