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Clam-cho Wder

A clam chowder made with clams, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, sea-biscuit, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato 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-cho Wder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the clams

  1. Remove the clams from their shells, chop the soft parts finely, and place the chopped clams in a deep kettle with enough water to cover them.

  2. Boil gently until the clams begin to tenderize.

Layer and simmer

  1. Layer the onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and soaked sea-biscuit in the kettle, alternating with the chopped clams and soft parts.

  2. Season each layer with salt, pepper, thyme, savory, and marjoram.

  3. Pour enough cold water over the layers to cover the chowder completely.

  4. Cover the kettle and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and onions are tender.

  5. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tomato + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Potato + thymetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 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 flavor and texture of the chowder as they cook and release their juices.
Potatoes
Soften during simmering and thicken the broth slightly as their starch releases.
Sea-biscuit
Soaked in milk, it softens and helps thicken the chowder body.
Onions
Soften during simmering and add sweetness and savory depth to the broth.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and liquid that brightens the flavor of the chowder.

The step that matters

Boil gently until the clams begin to tenderize. Boiling hard toughens clam meat and can make it rubbery, so a gentle simmer keeps it tender while still cooking it through.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, onion, potato, biscuit, milk, pepper, thyme. 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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